Author's Note

This is a crossover with Thunderclap's story, The Reluctant Gunman.

Cards on the table, Thunderclap, Voldine and I were working on this chapter before her passing and we didn't get a chance to format it to this story. I usually hate posting unformatted chapters, but I couldn't bring myself to edit it. Please bear with me and know that this won't happen again.

Forged Anew

(Sunset's PoV:)

The late afternoon sun hung low in the sky as I flopped onto my back in a sweaty mess. Despite all appearances, Vash was a taskmaster of a trainer. He'd insisted I wear weights all over my body and sent me through an obstacle course like I was a guard cadet. After that, he started flinging dodgeballs at me from a series of catapults. Thanks to the weights, far more hit me than I was able to avoid.

Kneeling down beside me, Vash offered me a canteen. I grabbed it and had barely gotten the cap off before I started greedily gulping down the lifesaving water. "I think that's enough for today, Sunset," he said, standing back up. "You can take off the weights now."

Nodding, I lit up my horn and unfastened the weights while I drained the canteen. "Ow, my everything."

"Yeah, you did take a walloping out there," he noted with a little chuckle. "Still, I'm impressed you dodged any after that obstacle course."

I shot up, glaring at the man. "Wait, you did that exercise expecting me to fail?!"

Vash nodded, a serious expression on his face. "Consider it a lesson. If you're serious about learning how to fight with a gun, then you're gonna need to learn how to dodge things way more deadly than dodgeballs. And way quicker."

I shuddered at the implications, replacing the balls with a hail of bullets. "Fine, point made."

Giving me a thumbs up, the grim expression disappeared off Vash's face and was replaced by a goofy grin. "Good! Would hate to see you quit after one lesson. Now, do you need help getting up?"

I wanted to protest, but trying to move my legs revealed they were threatening to go to jelly on me. "Um, do you mind if I lean on you?" I asked with a sheepish grin.

Kneeling down, he supported my weight and hauled me up carefully. "Which do you want more right now: food or a shower?"

Grimacing, I took a cautious sniff. "Shower. Lead me to my room, I'll be able to take things from there."

"You got it, Sunny." Humming to himself, he led me through the halls at a comfortable pace.

After a couple minutes in silence, I couldn't resist asking, "Vash, how did you get to Equestria? I've never heard of anything like you before."

Snorting, he looked down at me with an amused smirk. "Yeah, I've been told I'm pretty unique. But you're right, there's nothing else like me because I'm from another world."

I gaped at how casually he had mentioned other worlds. "Another world? Then how did you get here?"

"I got pulled here thanks to some... being pretending to be a merchant. I've met others with similar stories. We're Displaced, each finding ourselves in a different Equestria."

My mind was reeling, almost waiting for him to tell me he was joking. When no laughter came I asked, "If they're in other worlds, how have you met them?"

Reaching into his coat, Vash pulled out an odd trinket. "With one of these. We're able to send out tokens that let us summon each other. Sounds crazy, I know."

My eyes locked onto the token, my mind racing. My curiosity was piqued and the idea of peering into other worlds wouldn't leave my thoughts.

We eventually made it back to my room and I thanked Vash for his help. Giving him a hug, I slipped into my room. Once the door was closed behind me, I opened my hand to reveal one of the trinkets I "borrowed" from his pocket. It was a seashell of some kind, most likely from a mollusk given its long and narrow shape with a peach-like dual coloration.

"Is this thing really a token?" I muttered, carefully tapping the shell with a pinkie. I put a hand to my head, a message starting to relay in my thoughts. “Okay, guess that clears things up.” Lighting up my horn, I tried to examine the token for any traces of magic. Frowning, my scan found nothing. Whatever made the token tick, it wasn’t magic. At least not any I could detect. “Maybe seeing it in action will help me?” Wracking my brain, I opted for a direct approach. “Displaced, I wish to summon you,” I said, holding the shell out in front of me.

A shine built up over the shell, burning like a miniature sun. The light flitted through the air like a sprite, dazzling me. I winced, bracing my eyes against the light show and dropped the shell on reflex. Tumbling towards the ground, the sphere expanded.

“-arting to annoy me, Artemis.” A figure stepped into the room, a silhouette against the light.

“Maintaining your keyblade is a primary concern of mine, as is looking for upgrade materials, kupo. Maybe if you let me examine it more often, I wouldn’t need to nag you.” A smaller figure followed alongside the first speaker, though the height difference was hidden at first by their huge ears making them seem almost a foot taller than they were. “Aubade hasn’t been maintained in a thousand years!”

“Holy crap it actually worked,” I muttered, lowering my arm as the light died down. Without the weird sphere, I was able to get a good look at the figures. One was a mostly-furless biped like Vash, though it was clear they were much younger. I mean, they were barely taller than me. They looked like a slim girl in a t-shirt and jeans. Of course, that was assuming boobs and hips were secondary sex characteristics among their kind too. The other looked like an overgrown rabbit on two legs, wearing simple linen clothes and a padded leather apron. “Uh, hello there,” I greeted, deciding to interrupt their discussion.

The girl opened her mouth to respond, closing it when she saw me. “Huh. So that’s what you look like as a pony.”

“Wait, you’ve met me before?” I questioned, tilting my head. “Or, a me? Ugh, other worlds are already confusing.”

“You should try talking about time travel with Alex’s father sometime. I woke up with a hangover without drinking anything, kupo.” The smaller, rabbit-looking being stepped forward and nodded their head, causing a pink puff of fur on an almost-invisible antennae to bob slightly. “You are Sunset Shimmer, once a student under Princess Celestia. I am Artemis, and it is a pleasure to meet a version of one such as you.”

“I’m still Celestia’s student,” I corrected, looking down at the creature. “Also, can I pet you?”

Snickering, the girl held her hand out. “I’m Alexander Lionheart, nice to meet you.”

I shook the offered hand, forcing myself to look away from the little fuzzball. “Nice to meet you too. I’d give my name, but you guys already had it.”

Artemis’ face scrunched up a bit, as if they had just bitten into a lemon before they offered their own hand to shake. “Time differences make fools of the best of us, kupo. Our Sunset is...nevermind. Keep your hands above the shoulders if you must pet me.”

“Deal,” I said, putting one hand on their head and shaking Artemis’s hand with the other. “I wanted to pat between these fuzzy ears. You’re like a living plushy.”

“Arty here is a moogle.” Alex gave the creature’s antenna a slight bop. “Buncha little tinkerers.”

Artemis stiffened briefly at the bop, quickly reaching up and steadying the fuzzy ball on top. “One of these days you’re going to hit that too hard, and do more than just make me shiver.”

Putting her hands up, Alex nodded. “Okay, okay. I’ll leave your buoy alone.” Turning back to Sunset, she asked. “So... what did you call me for? You uh, need help with something?”

“Oh, I was just trying to learn more about Displaced. Mr. Vash just got done explaining the concept to me when I borrowed your token off him,” I explained, rubbing the back of my head. “I thought seeing it in action would help me understand the mechanics.”

Alex regarded me for a moment before giving a shrug. “I’m fine with that. A few hours in spring or summer isn’t too bad. It is either of those, right?”

“Spring, if it was summer then Cadance would’ve been here all day. How about I wash up real quick and then I show you two around. I just got done with a workout.”

“Sure, sure. Promise we won’t go snooping.” Alex gave a thumbs up. Sitting on my bed, she smiled. “I’m kidding. Go take your shower, then you can introduce me to this ‘Vash.’”

I left them in my little suite as I went for my shower. I opted to keep the basic purple walls and red carpeting. I wasn’t worried about snooping even if I thought she would. The only real thing of note in the room was a bookshelf, an end table with a reading lamp and a chair next to it. There was also a dresser with a mirror and the clothes within the dresser. The only real personal effects besides clothes and some accessories I had were the books I’d had before coming to live at the castle. To anyone else, those would just look like old junk.

Once I was dried off, I poked my head out into the room. “Hey Alex, mind passing me some clothes? I forgot to bring a change in here with me.”

“Uh... sure?” Her voice sounded unsure, almost hesitant. What I thought would take a few seconds took at least a minute as Alex gingerly retrieved some fresh clothes. “Uh... here...” she said, avoiding my gaze.

“Thanks,” I said, going back into the bathroom to change. With a quick use of magic to dry my mane and fur, I stepped back into the bedroom in under a minute. “You okay? I didn’t make you uncomfortable or anything did I?”

“No it’s... just me being weird.” Alex smiled weakly. “I do it a lot.”

I shrugged, and motioned for her to follow me. “Nobody’s normal. Not really. So don’t worry about stuff like that.” Opening the door, I led her out into the castle halls.

“Hmmm, it seems Alex isn’t the only one neglecting some basic care and maintenance of their tools,” Artemis commented while following along. Their hands glowed blue while carefully turning pages in a familiar, tattered old book.

Frowning, I snatched up the book in my magic and held it close to my chest. “And here I thought you weren’t going to snoop,” I said, making sure nothing had gotten ripped. To my surprise, some of the pages looked cleaner, and the biggest tears were slightly smaller than they had been.

“I was in the middle of fixing that for you, but if you don’t want it to be mended I can’t force the issue, kupo.” Artemis simply crossed their arms while hanging behind a little more and looking around.

“I appreciate the offer, but it’s better to keep it as is,” I said, examining the old pages. “But I like it this way. Reminds me of how far I’ve come.”

Artemis simply shrugged in response. “As far as reasons to not fix something go... I’ve heard worse.”

“We all have our quirks,” Alex added, glancing around the hall. “Looks about the same as the castle back home.”

“Why fix what isn’t broken, I guess,” I said, chuckling.

“Because sometimes you can’t fix it after it breaks, kupo,” Artemis responded quietly.

After a few minutes, we came to the dining hall. Mom and Vash were already at the table, though neither had started eating yet. The same couldn’t be said for Toya, who was basically drinking soup straight from the bowl. Cadance was beside him, giving him a slightly disapproving look as she tucked into a salad.

“Hi everyone,” I greeted, taking my normal seat. “Hope you don’t mind but I brought some guests.”

Alex and Artemis stood at the doorway, Alex bearing an awkward expression. “Uh... Hi. I’m Alexander and this is Artemis. Nice to meet you all. I hope...”

Vash got up from his seat, a wide grin on his face. “Always happy to have guests.” Putting a hand to his chin, he examined Alex for a moment. “Wait, don’t tell me, Kingdom Hearts,” he guessed.

“Yes. I hit things with a keysword,” Alex confirmed, staring up at him. “How’s life with the voice of a power ranger? Can you gimme the frog line?”

Chuckling, Vash put on a pout, looking down at his chest before meeting Alex’s eyeline again. “I’m a frog,” he said, dejection filling his voice.

Devolving into a giggle fit, Alex extended her hand. “Beautiful. Absolutely beautiful.”

Giving it a friendly shake, Vash returned to his seat. “As if I was going to turn down a chance to recreate that moment. I’m Vash by the way. Vash the Stampede.”

“Take a seat dear,” the princess said, waving to one of the empty seats. “There’s plenty for you and your companion.”

Alex nodded at Artemis, taking a seat next to Cadance. Her expression soured for a brief moment. The smile came back a moment later, like it never happened. “What are we having? I’m not too good with hay.”

“Neither are we,” Toya said, putting down his bowl and indicating himself and Vash. “That’s why the soup is a basic vegetable and we’ve got tuna steaks here.”

Artemis climbed up into a chair as well and looked over the selection of food before taking a piece of bread and half-filling a bowl of soup. “I’m not very hungry, but I will not insult your offer of hospitality, kupo.”

"What a polite being you are," Mom complimented, giving the moogle a warm smile. "And Alexander, if nothing is to your taste, we can always put in a request to the chef."

“Oh no, this is fine,” Alex assured, getting herself some soup and tuna. “This isn't a lot different than what we eat at home.”

“My kind are crafters, servants. Little comes from being rude other than making powerful beings angry.” Artemis simply looked around before dipping a piece of bread into their soup and allowing it to soak. “Alex is an exception. Only fools refuse to maintain their tools, kupo.”

Toya snickered, glancing at Alex. "I take it Arty is your Keyblade Maintainer?"

“They’re an annoying fuzzball,” Alex answered, pointedly ignoring Artemis.

“Aubade has not been given a proper examination, nevermind maintenance, in over a thousand years. I suspect the only reason it hasn’t shattered in Alex’s hands is due to sheer dumb luck...
and the fact that it is almost impossible to actually break a keyblade. Almost.” Artemis looked pointedly at the adults in the room for a few seconds before shrugging. “But maybe I’m just a silly mog that worries too much.”

A lightbulb seemed to go off above Toya's head and a grin wormed its way onto his face. "Hey Lexi, how does proving that your keyblade is fine as it is sound to you?"

Vash sighed, pinching his brow as if he knew what his son was thinking but ultimately said nothing.

Alex poked at her tuna, mulling it over. “I sorta do that everyday, but sure. Why not? Training’s been going slow anyway due to the weather.”

“Excellent,” Toya said, dipping a piece of bread in a fresh bowl of soup. “Then for this sparring match the condition is simple: whoever totally disarms the other first wins. If I win, then you listen to Arty and let them look at Aubade, and if you win then they have to drop the maintenance talk for a while.”

Giggling to herself, Alex nodded. “I can agree to all that. And uh, just call me Alex, please.”

“Aww, I thought Lexi was a good fit for you,” Toya said, pouting. “But, I’ve never been one for making folks uncomfortable, so Alex it is.” The pout didn’t last long, perking up as his next thought crossed his mind. “Did you want to spar before or after dessert?”

“Before.” Alex stood up, stretching her limbs out. “Fighting while too full isn’t a good idea. Trust me.”

“Might’ve learned that myself the hard way,” Toya admitted with a chuckle as he stood up to join her. “My sister Freya kicked me through a wall in the gut and let’s just say I left more than rubble on the ground.”

Glancing at her clothing, Alex sighed. “Wish I had my coat but whatever. You got a sparring room in the castle or are we fighting in the gardens?”

“We can use the training yard the guards use,” Toya offered. “No one uses it this time of day.” Motioning with his hand, he indicated for him to follow. “It’s cool if we use that, right Morning?”

“Better there than the gardens,” Morning agreed, giving him a nod. “Just try not to make too big of a mess, okay?”

“Sure thing,” Toya replied, snickering. “I’ll try to avoid giving the mason more work.”

Alex stopped by Artemis, looking down at them. “You coming, Arty? Or are you enjoying the Princess gushing over you?”

Cadance blushed, pulling her hand away from Arty’s ears with a look that screamed of a filly who was caught with her hand in the cookie jar.

Artemis blinked and looked up from their soup, then looked over at Cadance. “I hadn’t even noticed.”

“You gonna come with, Cady?” Toya asked. “Or are you more invested in dinner?”

Pushing away from the table, Cadance smoothed out her dress. “Sure, just try to not get downed by one nut shot again,” she teased, sticking her tongue out at him.

Snorting, Toya started to lead the assembled group out of the dining hall.

Alex winced at the comment. “No one’s cheap enough to do that at home. Not that it’ll work on me anymore.”

“I think the princess meant you going for his little poms, not him trying to go for yours, Alex.” Artemis spoke up quickly while pushing away from the table with a few pieces of dry bread in one hand.

(Toya’s PoV:)

I stood at one end of the training yard, my short sword and dagger in hand. I sized Alex up as she summoned her keyblade. Given her stance, she was new to fighting. At least formal fighting. No, that wasn’t it, she was new to fighting things that aren’t monsters in some way if the way she was looking between her weapon and mine were anything to go by. Her training probably focused on heartless and the like. “Come at me with everything you’ve got. Magic is allowed if you’ve got it.”

“Why don’t you start?” she suggested, keeping her keyblade in front of her. “Show me what you got.”

Smiling, I charged at her, making a big show of leading with my sword. Meanwhile, I let frost dance along my fingers, creating a thin pillar of ice with a blunted top to hit her in her blindspot. Twisting her body around, she kicked off the pillar.

Raising her sword above her head, she swung it down on my head. Hopping to the side, I watched as she swung at the air.

"Nice instincts," I complimented, swinging for her side with my dagger. "I aimed for where you couldn't see."

“I train with a guy who can teleport,” Alex said, putting a bit of distance between us. “It’s hard not to adapt.”

“Good, wouldn’t want to end this with one cheapshot,” I told her, watching her footwork. It was solid, not something I could easily throw her off of with a little trick. Keeping my guard up, I opted to approach again. It was clear she was going on the defensive. My best bet was to use my height and weight to my advantage and break through her guard.

Her keyblade shimmered, changing into a completely different keyblade. It shifted in her hands, transforming into a pair of gauntlets. Changing her stance, she threw a punch at my gut. Pivoting on my foot, I narrowly avoided the blow. I clicked my tongue, now realizing how much harder it would be to disarm her with gauntlets. I waited for her next punch, hoping to catch it.

Bouncing on her heels, she swung at my side. Pivoting on her left foot, she spun around me. Pushing forward, I felt her shoulder collide with my back. Grinning, I could feel my blood pumping as I tried to spin and catch her. Lunging forward, I went to pull her into a bear hug. I managed to get my arms around her middle and hefted her off the ground with a grunt of effort.

Alex stiffened, not expecting the contact. Bringing her hands up, she clapped them on either side of my head. I might not be an average mortal, but even my equilibrium took a blow from that. On reflex, I dropped Alex, hopping back and creating an ice platform to keep me out of her reach. I wobbled for a moment, shaking my head to right myself.

"I take it you have medical training to box my ears that effectively," I commented, my voice sounding far away.

“I used to be a med student,” Alex replied, her gauntlets shifting back into another weapon in her hands. Now she bore a glaive.

I examined the spear carefully, it seemed about as long as I was tall with a wickedly curved blade edge. I suppressed a smirk. It was good instincts to negate my reach advantage. She was good, a real warrior. At this point, winning wasn't the goal anymore; I was just having fun. Leaping down from my perch, I brought my blades up to ready a strike or block a stab.

Alex jabbed her weapon upward, streams of air starting to swirl around her. Swiping at my chest, she punctuated the move with a blast of fire.

I flew backwards, summoning my magic to teleport to the ground. Unfortunately, due to the rush job on the spell, I kept my momentum and had to tuck and roll to avoid really hurting myself. "Okay, magic spear. Noted," I said, bouncing to my feet. I winced, my legs stinging from the fall.

Keeping her weapon before her, Alex studied my movements. Narrowing her eyes, she took a step forward.

"Feeling like taking the initiative this go around?" I questioned, taking up a defensive stance. "That fire move was pretty cool."

“Think so huh?” Alex asked, slashing at my legs.

I dodged the slash, stepping forward to narrow the gap between us. With the fire tricks she already showed, I wasn't going to risk grabbing at it. "I mean, it's no electric guitar scythe, but it's still cool."

The glaive vanished, its form splitting into a pair of daggers. Moving to meet me, she sent one towards my face and the other at my shoulder. Sucking in a sharp breath, I in the split second I had to react I brought up my short sword to redirect the dagger away from my face. I grunted, feeling the other sink into my shoulder. Deciding to go for broke, I twirled my short sword in an attempt to break her grip on the other weapon.

Swearing, Alex released the second dagger. Stepping back, she kept her remaining dagger up near her chest.

With a quick use of ice, I stopped the bleeding from my shoulder. Once this was over, I’d need to use a healing spell or risk a chewing out from my folks. I picked up the other dagger with a bit of levitation and slipped it into my sheath. Judging by her stance, it seemed like she needed both in hand to switch forms again. Or I hoped anyway. Being as patched up as I possibly could be, I went to clash blades with Alex again.

Light shined in her empty hand, solidifying into the lost dagger. Her blades collided with mine in a spray of sparks and metal. “That’s the thing about keyblades. They always come back.” She grinned, shifting her stance. Pulling back, she twisted into a crouch, slashing at my legs.

I jumped up, using her shoulder as a springboard to avoid the slash. “You really seem to have it out for my legs,” I commented, spinning around and stabbing at her back. “At least you’re not after my face, it’s my best feature.”

Alex rolled forward, sucking in air as the blade scraped her back. “I swear to god. If you cut my bra, you're paying for a new one.” Getting back to her feet, her blades shifted again. Once more bearing her original keyblade, she separated it into a sword and shield.

“That’s fine, my sister is a clothing designer,” I told her, waiting for her to make a move. “She’d be giddy to make you one.”

Shaking her head, Alex brought her shield in front of her. “Thanks but uh, no thanks. Only Rarity can make my clothes.”

Shrugging, I charged at her and sent a spike of ice towards her legs. It caught the side of her leg, sending her stumbling to the left.

I adjusted my charge, coming in from the right while her weight was shifted the other way. With a guttural noise, I threw my weight into a mighty swing. Alex swore again, shifting her keyblade to its default form. Bringing it to bear, she braced it against my blades. Sparks flew as the weapons clashed. Flexing my arms, I bore all my weight down on Alex.

“Stop!” Artemis’ voice rang out with a clear, commanding tone, and the next thing I knew Alex and Artemis were over ten feet away from me, with the moogle’s hands visibly straining to hold one of Aubade’s spikes to the rounded section. “I told you I needed to look at it, kupo. I told you it needed to at least be polished and cared for. Now I need a forge and some mythril or the local equivalent.”

“My dad has a forge in his workshop,” I said, checking my limbs to find that I could move again. “We can ask him if there’s already mythril inside. I do know he was babbling about getting a shipment of Asterian steel soon.”

Artemis nodded in response, and then began to gently tug at aubade. “Alex, you must let me take it. I can fix this, I promise, kupo.”

Alex stared at Aubade, her eyes carrying an unknown emotion. Her grip on Aubade lessened until her hand fell away from the hilt.

Sheathing my weapons, I rubbed the back of my head. “Sorry for damaging your blade. Should’ve warned you that my sword and dagger aren’t exactly normal.”

Artemis clutched the damaged keyblade as if it were a glass figurine and prone to shattering instead of a hardened weapon. They looked at me and nodded once, slowly. “Please, lead me to the forge. I need to start as soon as possible.”

“I’ll get my dad, he’d want to know that someone’s using his stuff.” With a couple rounds of teleportation, I had my dad in front of us.

“Any reason why you interrupted dessert?” Dad asked, quirking a brow at me.

“Artemis wants to use your workshop,” I explained.

“The keyblade must be repaired or else our Equestria has one less defender.” Artemis spoke up before even looking up from the broken weapon.

Alex said nothing, standing behind Artemis with her gaze towards the floor.

“Alright, let’s get over there then.” Dad said.

(Vash’s PoV:)

Throwing open the doors to my workshop, I led us down into the main room where the skeletal beginnings of a vehicle were taking shape. “Mind the mess, forgot to clean up some bits and bobbles after making good progress today. Forge is in the corner here,” I said, pointing to the forge built into the wall.

Artemis followed swiftly behind me and quickly started moving a few things around to more easily reach the hole in the wall that was the heating chamber of the modern-style forge. They hummed for a few seconds, then nodded before sliding the shaft and broken shard of the keyblade in. “No coals, fewer impurities. I’ll need some spare mythril, about as much as it would take to make a dagger.”

I went over to one side of the room and opened what looked like a closet of some kind. “Mythril huh? Equestria doesn’t use it for much but I believe I have a few ingots here.” Tracing the shelves, I settled on a stack of greenish metal. “Aha! There it is.” Picking up one of the bars, I returned to Artemis. “Here you go.”

The moogle looked at the rather large ingot, compared to their hands and what they had requested, and then nodded once more before placing it into the forge to heat up. “This will take some time. I apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your assistance, kupo.” They then dipped into a bow towards me before turning back to the opening and placing a few shards of material on top of the mythril ingot.

“Always happy to help a fellow smith,” I assured with a thumb’s up. “Plus, it lets me see what working on a keyblade is like.”

“They shouldn’t have to work on it,” Alex spoke up, having sat down in a corner. “I didn’t take enough care of my damn weapon and now it’s all fucked.” Her voice carried a deep shame, and a sickening amount of self-loathing.

Toya took a seat next to her and patted her shoulder. “So you made a mistake, not the end of the world. To be fair, it got damaged clashing against weapons made from the scales of the world serpent. A lesser weapon would’ve shattered in the first clash.”

Artemis simply observed the inside of the forge, occasionally muttering and pointing into it, which was immediately followed by a spike of heat as a small burst of extra fire bathed the mythril and other materials.

Alex pulled away from Toya, flinching like she expected to be hit. “Don’t.... Don’t touch me,” she muttered, putting a good amount of distance between them.

Toya held his hands up, nodding in understanding. “Okay, no touching. But it’s not your fault that this happened. When you have a power like the keyblade, it’s easy to get cocky. I should know, cocky is like half my personality!” he joked, putting on a big grin.

No response came from Alex, who seemed to retreat back into herself.

Rubbing the side of his head, he continued. “At least you’ve learned from this, right? Some mistakes aren’t so easy to fix as a moogle with a forge. Trust me.” He gazed down at the ground, a look of shame crossing his features.

Having observed the whole thing in silence, Alex’s body language stood out to me. I came up to her side, making sure I gave her some space.“Hey, hey, breathe,” I instructed softly. “In through the nose and out of the mouth. Bring yourself back into the now.”

I didn’t think she was listening at first, at least until her breathing started to slow. Her body loosened up, but she kept herself scrunched down. “Thanks...” came her mumbled reply.

“It’s a trick I learned a long time ago,” I explained, taking a seat against the wall. “Once I was away from my mom, I started getting attacks like that. The college counselor got wind of it and taught me that.”

Artemis simply hummed to themselves while looking over from the far side of the room near the forge. The sound of tongs on metal could be heard as they drew out the glowing ingot and lifted a hammer with practiced ease. Soon the room was ringing with the sound of the mythril being hammered down and drawn out from the blocky shape into what looked like a long rod that was quickly placed back into the heat. Something about the humming seemed familiar, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it at the moment. Heavy metal maybe? It would drive me crazy later for sure.

Shaking off the tune, I looked down at Alex. “This is about more than just the sword, isn’t it?”

“Always is,” she said, lifting her gaze to the forge. “I’m just a walking ball of angst and repression.”

“And hormones. You are a teenager again.” Artemis quipped from across the room, interrupting their humming. “Those have an effect on the mind after all.”

Rolling my eyes, I ignored the moogle. “I know a bit about repression,” I said, sighing. “My mom was an old school Italian Catholic, so anything that was even remotely enjoyable was considered sinful. And I ended up cutting contact with her. I found out my brother was gay, tried to help him and ended up making her think it was me. I messaged my brother here and there through college, and he was still in the closet the last we talked. No idea what happened after I came here.”

Alex’s gaze finally rested on Aubade. “My mom was sick, very sick. She tried her best, but I usually ended up taking care of her.” She flinched, shrinking back into herself again. “My dad... hit me. A lot.”

I flinched, even though I’d had an idea of this revelation it still hurt to hear. “No one deserves that,” I said, shaking my head. It took every ounce of restraint to keep venom out of my voice. “No matter what. That man has no right to be called dad by you. He was nothing but a walking piece of trash.”

“People are not like metal. Different treatment for different things.” Artemis took the rod out and began hitting it again with rapid but powerful strikes that drew the material out even longer and thinner.

I frowned, trying to wrap my head around the phrasing. It was clear they were trying to help, though the metal metaphor was going over my head. Glancing back down at Alex, I continued. “I know it seems like this will hang over your life forever. And maybe it will be with you in some form for the rest of your life. But, if you find someone you can open up with, you can cast some light on it to make it shrink away.”

“Discord’s a good listener,” Alex said, glancing at me. “It’s easier with him. He doesn’t... he doesn’t have the preconceived notions ponies have.

My mind ground to a halt, the one word sticking out like a sore thumb. “I’m sorry, did you say Discord? Spirit of Disharmony and Chaos, Discord? Former tormentor of Equestria, Discord?”

“Uh... sure?” Alex blinked, her tension ebbing away. “He’s my uh, adopted mom’s boyfriend.”

That only added more momentum to my already spinning thoughts. “Okay, that’s a big surprise. Last time I saw him, I turned him into a statue with Tia and Lulu.”

“Oh, yeah. He was a statue for a while. Had a huge breakup fight with Celestia. They still quarantine the spot where it happened.”

“Breakup?” I questioned, trying not to picture those two together. “The Tia of your world dated Discord?”

Artemis actually giggled at that question and set the mythril back into the forge. “You might want something alcoholic soon if all of this seems so strange, kupo. They broke up ages ago because Discord did a stupid thing to Celestia.”

“Mommy turned Daddy into a her.” A strange sing-song voice cut in. Like a reverse of the cheshire cat, a four-legged, pinkish pony faded into existence beside Alex. “Was getting worried about Mister Sister. Daddy wanted me to go looking.”

I put a hand to my head, the news sinking in. I was forced to picture my Tia as a stallion. For some reason my mind went to fairly muscular with a full sunset red beard.

Alex frowned, holding the newcomer’s muzzle shut. “You really need to keep that sort of thing private, Screwy. I blabbed about that once and I felt like an asshole.”

“I don’t get it,” Toya said, scratching his cheek. “Why did that Tia start a fight instead of just asking to be turned back into a stallion?”

“Because mommy found out they couldn’t do it twice to anyone else after doing it to daddy.” ‘Screwy’ responded immediately after pulling back away from Alex and rubbing her muzzle with her hoof for a moment. “Your hand smells like cheese today.”

“Ah, that would explain it,” I said, holding back a snicker that Discord also got himself stuck in a different body from his own prank.

Clearing her throat, Alex ignored the cheese comment. “So, Vash, Toya, this is my big sister, Screwball. She can be a bit odd, so don’t hold it against her.”

“Chaos is in my family tree, so odd is the norm for me,” Toya dismissed, nodding to Screwball. “I dig the hat, Screwy.”

“No, my hat! Only I get to dig in it!” Screwball clutched it against the top of her head for a few seconds, then blinked and looked over at Alex. “Wait... that’s not what he meant, was it?”

Giggling, Alex flicked the propeller. “No, it’s not.” Her mood seemed to genuinely improve, judging by the easy smile on her face.

Grinning, a shovel appeared in Toya’s hand. “No, I meant it literally! Now hand over the hat! I must find the Chaos Gold!”

Screwball let out a panicked scream at this and flew across the room to hide behind one of Artemis’ ears, which shouldn't have been possible. “No, my hat. It only works for me!”

“Princess, please, I’m working. Go warp someone else’s personal magic field. There must be no chaos on me while I repair Aubade.” Unlike when they were chastising Alex earlier, Artemis’ tone with Screwball was quite kind as they gently pushed the floating earth pony away from their head. They then turned to the forge and pulled out the rod once more. A different tune was hummed as they began to work it over once more; drawing out a portion into a fine wire nearly a foot long.

I swear I could almost put a name to the band this time. Something with an ‘S’. I had to smile at Screwball’s antics. Despite her parentage, there was something wholesome about her. Even if she and physics didn’t seem to be on speaking terms.

Alex coaxed Screwball back onto the ground. “I’ll keep her over here,” she assured, scratching Screwball’s ear.

Artemis simply nodded and went back to working on the wire-thin piece of mythril, bending and angling it into the shape they desired before reaching for a pair of shears to snip it away from the rest, then dunk it into a bucket of water briefly before tossing it and the rest of the metal back in the forge. “Thank you, young master.”

“How much longer do you think it’ll take, Arty?” Alex asked, sitting down with Screwball draped across her lap.

“Another minute or so to heat up to the exact temperature I need, kupo, and then a few more to bond the metals together fully. It would be faster back home because I know exactly how much magic my tools can take before they shatter. These seem sturdy enough but I would rather not risk it.” They tapped on the anvil with one finger a couple times.

Alex nodded, watching Artemis’s hands move up and down. “Am I going to notice a difference? A shift in weight?’

“We’ll know when the repair is finished,” Artemis responded. “Now please, Alex, let me work.”

Falling silent, Alex took to petting Screwball like a cat. She watched each strike of the hammer, followed every spark. They didn’t seem to matter outside of that tiny forge.

I did my best to assist Artemis, handing off tools and watching the temperature like a hawk. We worked in silence, an understanding between craftsmen was all that was needed.

Setting the hammer down, Artemis placed the searing key into the awaiting trough. When Aubade emerged from the water, it was a blade transformed. Its colors were brighter, its blade shone without blemish.

Alex scrambled to her feet, upending a surprised Screwball. Grabbing it from Artemis’s tongs, she cradled Aubade close to her chest.

Holding up my hand, I offered a high five to the moogle. “Great work, kupo,” I said, grinning.

“I do my best, kupo.”

“...It’s off-color.” Alex held Aubade up, tracing the restored spike. It stood a light gray against a sea of green.

“A consequence of the sudden repair,” Artemis admitted, floating over to Alex. “She just needs some time with you is all. Give her regular use, kupo, and there’ll be no worries.”

Aubade slipped from Alex’s fingers, vanishing shortly after. Her breathing quickened, eyes staring into the distance. “It’s my fault. I broke her.” Alex’s shadow lost its form, pooling around her feet. “My fault...”

Tendrils of pitch wrapped around the girl's body, smothering her in their dark embrace. Her shape became more feral, punctuated by the bright yellow orbs that acted as her eyes. With lethal intent, she hurled herself at the terrified moogle.