"Perhaps I shouldn't have done that." Matthew groaned as he stood hunched over from his aching back. After Redheart had thoroughly stitched up the man's bleeding back when he took the hit from the hydra head, he believed it wouldn't be bothering him all too much afterward. But of course, this was only another lesson to him not to assume the best out of anything. Matthew's back had been in pain since the morning after the offer for his and his brothers' citizenship, leading him to believe that it was the abuse he took when trying to fly without taking care not to hurt himself.

By Twilight's insistence, Matthew paid a visit to the hospital after he crash landed in the city streets from uncontrolled flight, this being from his back injury. It had only been six to seven hours in the hospital, but it was enough to have a few ponies worried about him. October on the other hand knew better than to fret over something as minor as a few dings and dents, so to speak, and so calmed his pony friends as they huffed and puffed in the waiting room.

"Now then," said a rather short, wide, unicorn stallion with a light blue coat and scruffy, brown mane, "as boring as it may be to you, you need to say on the ground for...eh, perhaps a week. You may be back in the air in less time than that if you take care of yourself, but even then when you do fly again you must take extreme caution with what you do. Needless to say, I'm actually quite impressed, Mr. Iron. Most would have a broken a wing at the very least if not various other bones, but you seem to only have hurt a previous injury."

Matthew sighed with relief at the doctor's positive report and replied, "Well thank you, Mister Lance. Are we good here or is there something else that needs checking?"

Steel Lance smiled as he set his clipboard aside and replied, "No, I think you're good to go. Just remember not to kill yourself." Lance laughed at the odd look Matthew gave him and simply ushered him out of the room to see his brothers and the six mares in their company, who began to gather about him with Twilight in particular being very worried about his health. Matthew was still a little off put about what Lance said about killing himself. It would seem that even though these ponies are a peaceful people with little like for discord and contention as such of war, some were not entirely alien to the idea.

October began to busy himself with Matthew's wings as he looked them over to see several feathers dyed with his brother's crimson blood. Rainbow too took interest in Matthew's wings, commenting on how 'ridiculously gigantic' they were. Twilight on the other hand had something of importance to say. "So, Matthew, Jason, October; Celestia and Luna would like to see you three one more time before we all have to head on back to Ponyville. I wasn't given any specifics on it other than it has something to do with your...weaponry."

The Iron boys looked at each other with a bit of uncertainty about where this meeting might go, but they had already pledged their loyalty to the sisters, so perhaps it wouldn't be anything too drastic. Matthew got up and stood, though still winced as his scabs wrinkled. Walking out of the hospital, the brothers this time took the head of the group. Being in Canterlot for a week gave them plenty of time to see the city in and out for the most part, and finding their way to the castle was certainly the easiest of walks. As the brothers walked their way to the castle, the six Elements took off on their way to the train station, being that there would only be one train coming through that day, and it was to leave a noon.

With the twists and turns to the throne room well imprinted in Jason's mind, the group was quickly navigated to the presence of the princesses. The brothers stood there once again in the royal court by request with Celestia and Luna smiling down at them. "Iron Brothers," called the elder of them, holding their firm attention. "It was reported some time ago about your dealings with the hydra that came through Ponyville. Only recently, when that topic was floating around the royal guard, did I hear how you dealt with it. What of these…oddly shaped, loud, steel clubs that kill from a distance?"

While the question was rather strangely put, it was still straightforward enough to make the three nervous. How were they supposed to tell a people of peace and prosperity how to wield the power to strike your enemy before they have a chance to defend themselves, and particularly since they seemed to ones that shunned the idea taking the enemy unaware? October stepped forward from the line and spoke up, saying, "The weapons we left back in Ponyville were devises built to throw small, metal projectiles at supersonic speeds that could punch holes in whatever the weapon is aimed at. Ours are specified for war, though the purpose can be improvised. What Matthew and Jason have can work fairly accurately at about one hundred yards, though they can still kill at a farther distance. Mine is for large groups, and anywhere from fifty to one thousand yards is within its range."

Short and simply said as it was, Celestia looked to be in deep thought with her hooves pressed together under her chin while Luna seemed to marvel at the power put behind such minute things that the humans made. Celestia lowered her hooves and looked back to the brothers and said, "I would wish you not to be using these weapons any more than you must, for I fear that word may get around and the power could fall into the wrong hooves. However, since I would request this of you, perhaps you would like something more...standard in exchange?"

The brothers took up expressions of worry at the prospect of having the firearms taken. It was clear that Celestia had her people's safety in mind, and that she didn't want this alien technology to become common knowledge, so in light of this reasoning, Jason stood out and asked, "Will our weapons be kept safe, and in a place we can easily access if needed?"

"Oh absolutely," Celestia replied apologetically. "I didn't mean to make it sound like I wished for you to simply hoof them over, but just that I'd prefer to keep it more or less secretive."

When the brothers seemed to nod to each other in agreement Matthew said, “I noticed you guards are only ever equipped with spears. I don’t suppose you have something a little different, would you?

Luna quickly piped up and said, "No actually, we don’t. Spears are in fact all the Royal Guard uses. But, we can make…arrangements. So what would the three of you take to replace your human weapons?"

Matthew replied with his wish, saying, "A sword. I don’t have any personal preference other that it would be longer than my right arm, and certainly for it to have a finger guard."

Jason, making his request simple as possible to his preference, said, "Perhaps just a spear for me. I would suppose you have them in stock." This he noted, of course, by each and every guard baring a spear, just as Matthew stated.

October, taking full advantage of this opportunity, said, "If it wouldn't be too much trouble, I think a thirty six inch, flange mace would suit me well." All eyes gazed at October with a bit of amusement, to which he tried to act natural. Of course the weapon's style fit him perfectly, but Jason gave him a light smack to the back of the head as a warning not to take offers of the princesses too far.

"Well then," Celestia said with a bit of a laugh, "it shall be done. We ponies of Equestria don't forge swords or maces, but I know for a fact that the griffon armies uses them, so acquiring them should be easy enough. The spear for you, Jason, will be quite easy as we have plenty of all kinds in our armory as you perceived. You may be escorted there and browse if you wish. Is this all, or would you like something to come with your choice of weaponry?"

"Well, we could certainly use a bit of foot protection. Perhaps, if it's not too much trouble, we could have special boots made?" asked Matthew as he looked down at his chipped hooves.

"I see no issue with the idea, but what would you like the boots to be made of?" Celestia asked with a bit of anticipation in her voice.

"Uh..." Matthew replied hesitantly, "leather I think would be the best choice considering the fact that you don't have the resources to build what we had before."

"I thought you were going to say as much. Unfortunately, Equestrians don't harvest skins of any kind. We can however, get into contact with Griffonstone as they do deal in leatherwork. But, if you want these to be made, we will have to have your measurements so that we can get a better idea of what to do and who to look for to do the job. I know several griffon leatherworkers who would be more than happy to make these pieces for a handsome price."

With an understanding and agreement made, measurements where then quickly taken to the brother's liking as they described their leather pieces while Luna had a pen with a parchment to scribble on as she wrote down and drew things according to their specifications. There was a bit of modifying here and there, but the basic design to the boots were simple leather, of course, which would be molded to shape and fit their hooves with a layer of wool padding from the base of the hoof and up. The boots would reach halfway to the hawks of their legs with a split down inside of the leg to lace up when being used. The bottom of the boots would be imprinted with steel shoes that bore rows of rounded, spike-studs. With the drawings made and the measuring refined to the nearest point, the brothers were dismissed to go about their business before they were to leave that day.

Matthew winced again as he leaned on October for support as Royal Guard Flash Sentry lead the brothers down a flight of stairs to where they supposed the armory was. "You know," Flash spoke up, letting his voice echo down the corridor. "Jason is really the only one who needs to come down here. Why do you three always seem to be stuck to each other?"

Jason laughed at the question while waving his torch in the air, writing confusion on the guards face. "Flash, the three of us? We're brothers. It's what we do." Matthew and October laughed with their brother as their mirth echoed down the hallway of stone. For the second time now they had been asked that, and it seemed that no one took to account the aloofness of the human and pony race that made them so different and alien.

Flash stretched a small smile on his face at the brothers, and continued down the stairs and through the hallway until they stood at a large, oak door—its boards held together by cast iron braces, while the entrances curved in a barrel arch. It was surprisingly fancy the way the door was designed for being down in the dark, basalt place—the curving of the cut metal, the stain of the wooden door, though it had no handle for some reason.

Flash pulled a key from the straps of his armor, unlocked the entry, then whipped around, and delivered a hard blow to the door, throwing it back on its hinges, and startling the brothers a bit. Flash smiled at the odd faces the three brothers wore and said, “Eh, it’s a heavy door. It was meant to only open by force.” With that, he trotted inside the dark room.

Jason followed him inside, and his brothers came in after. Seeing oil torches mounted on the walls around the circular room, Jason dipped his wooden one into the bowls to provide a much better lighting. With the light casting itself here and there, the contents of the room was indeed that of an armory. Along the walls of the room, there were racks of spears, and, even as Luna had said it, spears were the only weapons actually there. Alongside each rack of spears were pegboards of armor pieces. Constructed of brass, they shone in the firelight with an eye wincing glint. For as pretty and well made the pieces were, it was a shame that they were also entirely useless to any biped creature like the Iron brothers.

Jason strode from rack to rack, looking at each spear that was there with an eye of decisive detail. The spears were not all uniform, for as he passed by each rack, they held a spear of a different kind. Some spears had longer shafts, or thicker heads, some had reversing spikes for more damage upon trying to take it out of a wound, and others with spear heads on either end of the shaft. On the far right end of the round room, there sat a chest, laden heavily with chains and locks. This drawing Jason’s curiosity, he asked Flash, “What might be in that chest that’s so important to keep locked away in such an extreme manner?”

Now, having the guard’s attention on the large, wooden box, he eyed it oddly and replied, “In that chest are some rather…crude weapons I suppose you could say. They’re not ours, but of Changeling craft, and being of their making, they’re built to inflict as much pain as possible to any who receive a blow from it. Why they would need hoof crafted weapons, I can’t say, but they do make them.”

“Well,” Matthew questioned as he leaned on October to stand straight, “Changelings are a lot like you ponies in their own respects, so if they wouldn’t need weaponry, why would you?”

“Ah, you see, Changelings have the ability to change their physical shape into anything so accommodate for their needs. In their generic form, they have the raw magic wielding ability of a unicorn, the structure of flight for a pegasus, and the power of strength of an earth pony. Along with this, they have an insect like exoskeleton, though it’s certainly not as heavily patterned as an insect’s would be, as it’s divided into hundreds of plates. Ponies, on the other hoof, only come in those three separate forms—unicorns, pegasi, or earth pony. Of course, we have a breed with all three traits as well, but they are few, and with there only being two by birth left—Celestia and Luna—they may very soon die out. Because of our bodily separation, we can accommodate for our lack of individual prowess by banding together and building. Also, griffons and minotaurs are quite fond of using weaponry, so, in relatively recent events, ponies have had to…upgrade I suppose you could say, to protect ourselves.”

“That’s actually rather interesting,” commented Jason. “I don’t suppose you could open up that box there for us?”

“Well, not at the moment. I don’t have those keys with me. However, if you really want to take a look, I can acquire them for you,” replied Flash as he began to head for the doorway. “Hey, October, would you mind taking a torch for me?”

October hobbled Matthew up against the wall before he walked to Jason and took his torch. He then walked up beside Flash, who took the lead from there—through the halls, and up the stairwell.

“Sooooo…” Matthew began as he looked around the room, “are you just going to stand there trying to melt the spears with your eyeballs, or are you going to try them out?”

Jason laughed as he took his critical eye away from the rack of spears he was analyzing, and took one from its place. The first thing he took note of was that the shaft was made of some rather hard, ridged wood. By the simple smell of it, it may have been apple. The head was also a nicely tempered iron, making it a good weapon for thrashing an opponent. Jason wrapped his fingers around the shaft of the weapon and spun it, making timely transitions from hand to hand. His spinning started slow though, and so he determined that it would be harder for him to maneuver it in surprise situations. He laid the spear back in its place, and moved on to the next rack.

It had taken about half an hour or so before October and Flash returned with the proper set of keys. The poor guard was actually questioned by Luna concerning his sudden interest in the Changeling weaponry, but since October was waiting right outside, he could tell Luna was pressing hard on Flash, and took that time to enter in on the conversation. At simply October’s being there, and mentioning that it was Jason’s idea, the princess had had taken little time in retrieving the keys for the chest, which she seed to keep in her very chambers.
“You know,” Jason said as Flash fiddled with the keys in his feathers, “if it was really that much trouble to get the keys for the chest, we could have just skipped it.”

“Perhaps,” replied Flash, “but, you’re a guest in this castle, and as such, it’s my duty to serve you.” And with that, the main lock on the chest popped and creaked as various mechanisms began to move and shift. The lid to the large, rectangular box popped open with a dull thud as dust came off of it in a puffy cloud. “This chest hasn’t even been so much as touched within the last few centuries, so everything in here’s pretty old,” Flash said as he lifted the heavy lid of the wooden box.
With a heave, Flash pushed it open to reveal what it had inside. The first thing that came to each of the brothers minds was that it looked similar to the descriptions of orcish weaponry. There was an assortment of axes, swords, hammers, maces, daggers, spears, flails, and even bows. There were gnarled, sharpened angles on every piece of the weapons, leaving only the gripping for a place not to be injured by the savage cutlery. The cast of the weapons was nothing even October could identify. It was dark and heavy in color, giving it the appearance of raw iron—a foolish choice of forgery.

Curious, October set his torch in a wall mounted holder, and then reached his hand for the first of the weapons that caught his eye. He carefully picked a gnarled mace from the chest. It seemed like it was a weaponized version of Sauron’s tower if you had a vivid imagination. It was actually much lighter than he had expected. The head was rather weighty, but overall, it was no lighter than Matthew’s kukri. “What’s this made of, Flash? It doesn’t feel like anything I’ve ever held before. It feels hard and strong like any other metal, but it also feels as lightweight as magnesium, though it doesn’t look like it.”

“Ah, well,” Flash answered, “I’m not sure, but it would seem that it’s made of the same stuff that makes up their shells. I’ve heard, and only heard mind you, that they supposedly took their fallen to fight once more, so…I suppose…” Flash didn’t really need to continue, nor did he wish to. The thought was rather repulsive, even to the human brothers, who had seen so many vulgar things done by the cruelest of people.

Disregarding what the weaponry might have been made of, Matthew hobbled over, and put his hand to a cruel looking blade. He pulled the sword out, and as October described, it felt resilient, yet incredibly light. The blade was curved into a shallow crescent shape as it came to the top, while closer to the base, it remained straight. It was actually much like a demented, orcish version of the replica of Legolas’ duel elven swords that his great, great grandfather always had hung in his living room. Matthew ran his fingers up the flat of the blade, feeling many scars along its length as he did so. The blade seemed worn, but with a glance, one could tell it was loved and maintained. It could certainly use a good sharpening, and perhaps a rewrapping of the handle’s grip, but other than that, it was a fine tool. It seemed amusingly to be a rather harsh replica of the elven craft from many fantasy movies he had seen as a child. The man swung it in his hand, and, though he was no swordsman, he was rather well versed in using such blades.

Now, with Jason’s curiosity piqued, he chose his weapon from the bundle of his best personal liking. It was a spear like weapon, though it looked more like a short sword with an extended handle with an upward curving finger guard. This one wasn’t quite so painful and dank looking. It was actually cleaned, straight, and seemingly unused. One could even say it was beautiful.

Flash took notice of the brothers’ liking to the Changeling’s craft, particularly Jason eyeing the spear he held, and asked, “Does this mean that you all would like the weapons from the chest, or should we still proceed with your request to Griffonstone?”

Flash seemed a bit edgy when asking, though October hardly took notice as he replied, “I think we should talk with the princesses first, seeing that they have the original plan, but I think I like this mace right here.

“Likewise, I say,” Jason butted in. “While I do see your own spears as practical, I think I like was I have—this hybrid.”

“And what have you got to say, Matthew?” Flash asked, turning to the man in question.

Matthew was sitting down as this point, mainly from his extensive back pain, but also in thought. “I wouldn’t want to inconvenience her majesties with a sudden change of plans,” Matthew stated after a while of pondering, getting a relaxed smile from Flash. “However,” he continued, getting Flash to take his smile back, “I think that what we have here—these Changeling weapons—are actually much more beneficial. There will be no need to be putting others to work across the country for our sake, and these are right here, right now, whereas ordered weapons would take a lot more sweat and effort. Besides all that, these weapons seem as though they just need a bit of a cleanup, and they’d be as ready as ever.”

Flash sat back on his haunches as his eyes gazed around the room, but he wasn’t focusing on anything in particular. “You have a fair point there, so I suppose I should report to the princesses before the request is sent. There are sheathes, quivers, and coverings for blades, bows, and blunt hammers beside the third rack on the right of the chest. I’ll go tell the princesses your new request.” And with that, Flash swiftly flew up the wall, had taken the torch from its mount in his mouth, and was gone, leaving the brothers to their own affairs for the time being.

Matthew stood back on his hooves and walked over to the rack of spears where Flash had said there were coverings for the Changeling weapons. Just as was said, there were several sheaths and quivers for the various things in the chest. What caught the man as odd were the many different colors the sheaths had. Some were red, others blue, green, white, or black. What was even stranger was than they were scaly. Matthew knelt down to hold a particular, green, scaled sheath of a sword. Taking memory from his meeting the little dragon boy named Spike, it seemed that this material was similar to the boy’s own skin. The scaled were far too large to be any kind of lizard he had ever known, forming the conclusion in his mind that it must have been dragon hide. His two little brothers came to his side to see the weapon coverings, and to their surprise as well, they found it to be a variety of colorful, scaly skins. Matthew slipped the blade from his hand into the supposed dragon skin sheath, though it apparently wasn’t the right one for that sword, for it didn’t fit in quite the right way. “Not the best, but it’ll work,” Matthew commented as he stood, holding the sword and sheath out in front of him.

Jason had chosen out a silvery-white sheath that fit his spear well enough to work as well, and for October, there was nothing that could have kept his new weapon any safer than his own hands. Jason then noticed a black quiver full of crudely crafted arrows filling it. Thinking about a few option in his mind, he fetched from the chest a recurve bow that seemed to be the only one actually in there. Bringing it back to where the leathers were, he took an arrow from the black quiver, notched it, and shot it at the stone wall on the other end of the room. Whatever the bowstring was made of, Jason could feel that it certainly wasn’t horse hair. The arrow itself however, completely shattered on impact with the wall, and was now in pieced upon the ground. “Well, that’s really going to need some new arrows,” Jason mumbled to himself.

“Are you considering using a bow instead then?” asked Matthew with an odd face.

“Oh no, I like this spear-sword hybrid…thing just fine. I was thinking you would do well with the bow,” Jason replied as he offered it to his older brother.

Matthew looked at Jason with raised brow, but took the bow from him anyway. “I suppose, but I don’t think a bow for a sword is necessarily the best trade off.”

“Perhaps not,” replied Jason with a bit of a smile, “but if you take a look on the back of this quiver here,” Jason trailed off, leaving Matthew curious to take the black quiver from Jason. Matthew looked carefully at the item. He noticed that, instead of a round shape, the quiver was flat, and had several dividers in it to hold rows of arrows. But then he noticed a divider in the mouth of the arrow holder with a significant snap-button hanging from its lip. The only obvious conclusion to come to was that it was a divider to hold a sword.

Matthew smiled with a light shake of his head, and slipped his blade inside after removing it from the previous sheath. Sure enough, the sword fit it perfectly with the latch snapped over its handle to keep it in place. “Well well, I suppose I can work with a bow then.”

“You see,” commented Jason for the sake of clarifying the practicality of its making, though he was speaking more or less to himself as he rambled, “being broad and flat as it is, it makes the quick draw of the arrows much more efficient, and its flat shape would also compensate for the curved shape of a one edged sword as that one you have, Matthew. It would seem that both the sword and bow were meant to be wielded by one man...or a Changeling I suppose.”

“If that’s the case,” October spoke up, “then the Changelings are not ones to underestimate if they take the time to perfect their weaponry of war performance. Have the two of you noticed how relatively hectic the Royal Guard is? They seem too comfortable all the time, as if there wasn’t anything that could go wrong. I mean, heck, they’re not too good at making sure things are all right and tidy.”

“What do you mean, Red? What did you do?” Matthew asked in exasperation with a raised eyebrow. “You haven’t been messing with the guards have you? I know how much you like to test people’s defense.”

“Hey, I didn’t really do much. Three nights ago, I wasn’t sleeping well. The idea was to go for a little walk in the palace garden, but I ended up coming across a unicorn from the Guard. The unicorn had a light spell flashing around to make sure everything was as it should be. Out of curiosity, I tapped my hooves on the floor. It got his attention, but he never checked it out. For the past three days, I noticed that the guards were never really alert like I’m used to people being. What if something wrong happened? Or what if something was just awry? I doubt they’d take much notice. From only the weapons we hold, it looks as if the Changelings would be far better at what the Royal Guard is for.” October was right too. These supposed guards didn’t seem too efficient at their job as they should have been.

Matthew was just about to ask October what he was getting at, but Flash Sentry had come back at that very moment. “Iron Brothers, Celestia and Luna would like to see you…along with the weapons you chose,” he said after he had given the torch to Jason.

October immediately took the torch from his brother, and took the head. They headed back up through the dark hallway, and up to the sunlit halls of the marble palace. October swiftly swung the torch, putting the flame out, leaving it then in the wall mount at the entrance to the descending stairway. Flash guided them through the now familiar hallways to the throne room with a distinct frown on his face. October put his mace in his right hand, while Matthew took this time to buckle the quiver over his shoulder, as well as sling his bow there.

Not too long a time navigating the palace, Flash had faithfully lead them to the magnificent doors of the throne room. Flash popped in, and only a second later came out again and said, “Come in,” to the brothers waiting there.

Matthew stepped in first, followed by Jason, and then October. The first thing October noticed was the odd look the two princesses had as they eyed the choice weapons the bothers now carried. They seemed rather confused, though there was definant memory washing over Celestia as she looked at the Changeling crafted weapons that didn’t go unnoticed by any of the brothers. The princess of the sun seemed particularly warry of the spear like weapon in Jason’s hands. “Iron brothers?” asked Celestia with a bit of an inquirious tone, “It was reported that you took a quick liking to the cutlery in the chest, so I must ask you: are you quite certain you wouldn’t like me to follow through with the request to Griffonstone, or would you like to keep now what you’ve got? I know it would take more time and effort to request weaponry from the griffons, but, if it’s all the same to you, what you hold in your hands are feared and named weapons, the names of which you will find that not many don’t know. They were locked away for a purpose. I mean not to say that you are not permited to choose what you will, but some may not take good liking you carrying these around where you go.”

Matthew wore a look of thought, while October stared ahead with somewhat of a blank face. Jason was shuffling a bit as he was much more concered about well pleasing the rulers to keep an unmarked face of reputation, being as they were embassadors of humanity as the sort that they had become. Jason sighed with releif as Matthew took quick notice of Jason’s mild distress on the situation, and thus spoke on their behalf as he had usually done. “As warry as we are to make displeasing actions toward you and your sister, you said yourself that it would be a bit out of the way to aquire cutlery from another nation. We have here what we think would suit us best, and it’s right here with us as I said, rather than across the continent. Uh, you said that these were named, I believe? Would you wish to tell us more about that?”

Luna, who seemed a little clueless about it all, seemed to now have memory of it. “Matthew, the pair you have—the bow with its sword—were a common pair used by the quick and quiet. Those that you bare are called Dinaer. They were once wielded by a great Changeling warrior named Lugbûrzum. He was the one of the shadows. Known as such for lacking the common shapeshifting ability of the Changelings, he thus kept himself to his name—being one that slinked in the shadows, and never being seen. Yours, October, is also as famed. Unguer is its name, meaning ‘Hollow’. It comes from its famed wielder, Flokolgûl. As his name says, he was a crooked one. He named his weapon for its way of hollowing its every enemy—carving everything that made a living thing alive. And yours, Jason, is the most known for its use and make. Thaurer—The Abominable One. It was crafted by two forgers—Thaurer himself, the one for whom the blade is named, and the minotaurian forger, Bardin Lunnsson. It’s forged of chitin and steel. I know not how it was done, but it was. Thaurer’s weapon was named after his death. Of his death, ponies feared most that he could not die at all. He lived for nine hundred sixty-nine years, exceeding any other mortal by far. He was believed to be an invincible immortal, though Sombra was one to disagree. It was in a battle with Sombra himself that that Thaurer fell. Even for as long-lived and clever as Thaurer was, Sombra had dedicated his entire life to battle and warrior’s magic, making him far more equipped that Thaurer ever could be. Sombra claimed the weapon as his own, only furthering its legendary death streak. No one understands why Thaurer lived for as long as he did, but we can all thank Sombra for naming it in memory of him.”

There was a long silence. The guards, the brothers, and even Celestia herself—they were all speechless.
“Sister?” Celestia eventually asked with a nervous smile, “I knew of the origins of them all, yes, but Thaurer? How do you know this much of him?”

There was another silence. Though not as painful as the last, it was still hard to bear through. “I’ve…read a few things,” was all Luna said in a tone that ended any rebuttal that could have arisen. Celestia looked far from satisfied, but there were other matters to be concerned with at the moment, so she turned her attention back to the men in the court.

“Ah…yes, that’s why we had a few concerned thoughts about how and what you chose, but if it is what you wish, then you may carry them.” This was all she had to say, but now the brothers looked at their weapons oddly.
Jason, now with a frown creasing his face, thought things a little differently. “They may have been seen with great fear in the past, but this is a different time. Perhaps there can be a new legacy for old things?” This brought a bit of a smile to the face of the royal sisters as they admired the adventurous thinking of Jason.
“Oh, I suppose you’re right, Jason. We shouldn’t put fear in the material, but the one who wounded with it. You may keep what you’ve got, but be sure not to do anything that might provoke unkind tongues. They still have a reputation on them, and a reputation can be hard to change, making it only harder by the fact that they come from the Bad Lands.” Celestia said.
“I have a question though,” piped October, “I know that ponies find distaste in using skins, and eating meat, and other things that have to do with taking living things apart, so what about these dragon sheaths? At least, I would suppose they’re made of dragon skin.”
“Oh, actually,” Luna replied first. “dragon scales are an easy thing to come by, and are quite common for making weapon coverings. Dragons will often shed their skins in replace of a new. These shed pieces of their skin are collected by anypony who comes across them, and are used for many things. They actually make rather fair tunics as well. Dragon skin will last far longer than any other material we’ve got, and thus it’s been a rather popular material for many crafts.”
“Well, thank you, your majesties, for your permission and understanding,” said Matthew as be bowed his head, his brothers doing likewise. “I was a little concerned that you would be displeased, based on how fiddly Sentry had gotten through our talk.” Matthew finished with a playful smile as Flash, who in turn rolled his eyes at the man.
“It would be the least of a problem to be mixed up in our affairs with such concerns as yours, Iron Brothers. Indeed, it was our suggestion that you trade out what you had for what you’ve got now, yes? It would be trifling at the least to us as to what you preferred,” quoth Luna happily, putting the brothers at ease with themselves. “Now then, I do believe it’s been—” Luna began before she was cut off by a stifled yawn. “Hwæt, I’ve been up for far too long. Matthew, Jason, October, you are dismissed, as well as I. Rest has been prolonged for long enough. I must go. Farewell!” And with that, the princess of the moon walked by the brothers as two guard ponies opened up the doors for her.
The brothers were about to follow her out before Celestia called them back. “Brothers, it was told to me that you felt a little uncomfortable being taken by chariot here. What would you prefer contrariwise to the last? I personally thought the trains would be a bit…cramped to say the least. That isn’t even to speak of the little rooms they have, or how much longer it will take to get from here to there.”
October, who had been quiet long enough, spoke up, saying, “It did seem rather queer that we were treated so…well and formal I suppose, but it’s not too much of a bother to take a chariot back again, if that’s what you were asking.”

“Oh good then, I would prefer you to travel around a little less openly for the sake of keeping my little ponies calm, and now that you bare past fears as opposed to my subjects in the ways that you do,” replied Celestia with a light sigh. “I will show you to the chariot port then. Follow me.” Admittedly, the brothers were rather frightening to her. She was very powerful, as was her sister, but there was something about the brothers that was far from other worldly…—authoritative—That was perhaps the best way to describe it. Who convinces a town like Ponyville of all places to butcher a hydra and move it into the Everfree? The Iron Brothers apparently did. The princess of the sun shivered under the thought of what the brother went through to gather such authoritative respect that they could simply command and have it done. She had enough trouble with that herself, and she was the eldest of the Equestrian princesses, not to mention that essential caretaker of the sun.

Celestia waved with spread wings to the brothers in the chariot as her farewell to them while they waved her back. Flash had stayed with his princess rather than flying the brother back to Ponyville, for there was another assigned in his place this time—White Peak. That way, there would be at least one of us in Ponyville to check up on Bonbon..., Flash thought to himself. Flash turned and flew off to his post at the gate of the castle, while Celestia simply teleported herself back to the courtroom, where there seemed to be more than a few antsy patricians and aristocrats outside the door.

Celestia sighed with both anticipation of the nobles, and how to end the day properly with a book and a hot pot of tea. “Let the day court resume,” ordered the princess, leaving Arcturus and Rigel, two of the only earth ponies of the Royal Guard, to open the doors with a heave, thus letting a flood of blueblooded importance into the room. Blueblood…ah, yes. I shall be dealing with that later, Celestia thought to herself as she teleported a long, eloquently designed table with ten chairs on each side into the throne room, giving all the nobles plenty of places to sit.

Night—Flash loved it. It the only time he could get at least some peace from all the voices. Of course, they would always be there--shucking and jiving, never leaving, but he still had friends to help with that. And of his friends…Flash rounded the corner to a narrows alleyway. It was dark, damp, and cooler than, but as clean as, any other part of the city. “I believe this is it, unless we moved it again,” Flash mumbled to himself. He looked back out from the alley to make sure he hadn’t been followed, or being watched. He then examined the cobblestones at his hooves, seeing the tiniest, rectangular crease in it. He put his hoof on the stone, and pressed his body down on it. The stone sunk a quarter inch under him, and made a quite rumble of grinding stones. The ground pulled back to reveal a passage down below the city. He swiftly went down and shut the entrance behind him. There was nothing to see but the black that surrounded him once the passage shut its mouth. “Hello?” Flash asked out as the empty darkness echoed it back to himself.

“There ya’are, lad,” came a gruff voice that startled the pegasus into stepping back a bit. “Now now, calm yourself. You’ve known me for long enough.” And with that, there came a light of a sky blue color that filled the dark stairwell. The unicorn chuckled as Flash winced at the light. “Come along then,” said the unicorn through his bush-like, brown beard. “They’ve been waiting for you.”

Flash hopped along without hesitation, this being only his fourth meeting. He once thought that he was alone in his rebellion, but it was about three years prior that he learned otherwise. Down the stairs, through a few burrowed, dirt tunnels, jumping a few sinkholes, and they had come to a door that was reinforced with a magic embedded, dragon skin covering, leading to a small room. It was designed so that ponies whose blood was not put in the frame of it could not enter, and now that number had come to five.

“Steel,” began Flash in a bit of a nervous tone, “what of the thestral guards? They haven’t anything to see or hear of us as of yet?”

“Not yet they don’t. Those ones are a dangerous little bunch,” replied the unicorn as he tapped his horn to the door, causing it to silently open out toward them. “Always going about their nightly business may put us out. There’s no telling where one might be.”

“Flash, I’m tired of not seeing you more often!” a deep and jovial voice came from the room.

Flash turned his attention to the occupants of the room. There was a young, cream colored, earth pony mare with a light brown mane and tail standing beside a tall, dark blue, thestral stallion with a white man and tail. The mare had knotted muscles that spoke of nothing more than hard labor from her years of farming, with a cutie mark of a plain, wooden shield, which bore the emblem of a reared, yellow lion. The thestral wore the typical armor of the Night Guard, covering most of his body, though his helmet was set to the side. He was quite a bit peppier than his companion, and was about two hooves thicker than the mare, as well as one head taller. The mare was called Desert Firm, and the stallion was named, just simply, Lilac. It was a bit of an odd name for a stallion, but it was simply that his parents were expecting the birth of a filly, though, even knowing this, Lilac couldn’t be bothered by such things like a misfit name, and thus decided to keep it.

“Hello, Lilac, as well as you, Firm,” replied Flash with a wave of his wing. “I heard tell that you would be here in Canterlot, Firm, but what brings an Appaloosaian such as yourself here to the capitol?”

Desert Firm and Lilac smiled at Flash and Steel as Firm replied, “Let’s just say I heard there were more of us.” Desert Firm then looked a bit curious, and so asked, “Is Fancy not joining us then?”

Steel Lance shook his head, and replied, “No, he won’t be. He said he preferred to keep as much of himself out of our affairs as was possible. I understand why he’s so wary, but it hurts just a bit that even he is so edgy with us.”

“I don’t understand,” chimed Lilac. “Fancy Pants wants her off the throne just as much as any of us. He knows us better than perhaps even we know of each other, so why would he be missing this meeting? He is a rather important asset.”

“Yes, that’s true,” replied Desert Firm. “We need him for what we’re doing, but he has his own duties to attend to, and he’s practically a magic beckon, so going under the city once every month would be sure to make a few palace ponies wondering about him. Furthermore, we all know he hates going behind Celestia’s back. I for one say that he can be of great use up there. He can…sip some cider, if you understand.”

“Oh, yes yes, certainly, Firm,” quipped Lilac. “By all means, our most important member must get himself drunk, and go babbling secretive things.”

Firm knocked Lilac in the knee, getting the thestral to laugh. “Don’t be that way now, Lilac,” Firm reprimanded.

“You have a good idea there, Firm,” piped Steel. “He could be just as important up in the city as down here with us. He also seems rather well acquainted with Miss Rarity—the one that once bore the Element of Generosity. Knowing her, I would say if Fancy swayed her first, then that could lead to gaining the trust of the other Elements. This is perhaps the best opportunity we’ve got since we discovered Bonbon.”

“Yes yes,” chimed Sentry as he felt that the subject was veering, “as good as that is; what would be our next step from here?”

Steel, being the leader of this particular head, licked his lips with his eyes flitting around the room, until he replied, “How are the voiced.” Flash, Lilac, and Firm all looked to each other before looking down to the ground with different levels of distress. “Not too good then?” Steel was answered with the shake of the heads of his companions. Steel sighed and said, “Come here then. I can make it better.”

They did as asked; coming closer to the unicorn, and sat around him with their heads down. One by one, he touched their crowns with his horn aglow; one by one, their faces showed relief of hidden pain. Steel back away from them as he wrinkled his face into contorted madness as his head began to pound like thunder in his ears. He kneeled on the ground and rolled to his side as he began to sweat. His friends came to his side with worry. Once again, the kind unicorn had healed them, only from all that irritation to be taken to him. It hurt him every time to do it, but no matter the consequence, he had made it very clear that he wouldn’t put up with his friends dealing with it instead of him.

Firm, in her concern for the stallion, pressed her hoof to Steel’s jugular, causing him to sleep within a minute or so. It got harder to see him do this every time, because, each time, it put a heavier burden on him.

“Oh, Steel,” said Lilac once the unicorn’s breathing had softened a bit, “you can’t do this forever.”

“He should do just fine. According to him, his blacksmithing practices well does away with the voices. His wife and daughter are helpful contributors to his peace as well…Now then, Lilac. I presume you have our plans since Steel went in with the procedure a bit early?”

“I…only have half. Steel still doesn’t trust be that much after what I did. I believe Firm has the first half?” Lilac replied as he smiled a little awkwardly.

Firm nodded with an understanding smile to Steel’s distrust of the thestral. “Indeed I do,” said Firm.

Bonbon took a quick peak in Lyra’s room, making sure that her roommate wouldn’t be disturbed in her sleep as she slipped outside. Once outside, there was almost an immediate rush of wind behind her. “Peak,” she said, a bit startled. “You’re here right on the hour. I heard you were the new one, but how can I trust you?”

White Peak raised a brow as the mare’s questioning. Peak grunted, and his eyes shifted quickly from their grassy green color, to that of a solid blue. Bonbon smiled at his open show, and said in return, “Good. Now then, let’s talk.”

Author's Note

Just wanna put this here. If you need a better visual of the Iron Brothers' weapon choices, here are the links:
Matthew - sword&bow
Jason - spear-sword hybrid
October - mace
Yes, I know—Skyrim. Shush.