In the Eyes of Death

My afternoon consisted of spending most of my time practising my forging and welding techniques while my new boss, Crescent Rose whose butt print was that of a rose with its stem wrapped around the hilt of a blade, governed everything I did with an iron hoof. No seriously, she’d apparently lost a hoof in an accident and forged herself a replacement. She apparently has built it to act as a hammer if she wears the correct shoes.

That being said, I had been veering between “holy shit this is difficult work” to “holy shit this is fucking awesome!” every couple minutes. If it wasn’t for my military training and amazing physical condition, I’d probably have not survived the afternoon.

Crescent Rose was extremely rough around the edges, never mind that a lot of her dark red fur had been either trimmed to be drastically short or burned off entirely; she looked like a modern and non-feral zombie. A black mane kept short and pulled back with a small bandana with a small rose emblazoned on the forehead, kept whatever form of bangs she had out of her eyes as she beat away on whatever piece of steel or iron. A solid and stocky body, looming over the heads of even some of the largest stallions in this town, she stood with shoulders to my stomach and head level with my upper chest and neck.

Even with all that in mind, I suspect that she could actually be pretty soft-hearted if she wanted to or had the motive to show such a side. I had figured this when, during our dinner break, her sister had shown up and took a few minutes to shoot the shit; unaware that I was listening in for sake of gaining some insight into my boss’s personality. I had managed to go undetected by focusing most of my attention on a small chunk of broken off steel about three inches long and a whetstone with which to grind against.

That being said, using scrap material and old whetstones didn’t seem to bother my boss, further reinforcing my idea that she had a rather carefree interior when she wasn’t busy with work and I wasn’t wasting her time. My dinner break, my time.

Now, that in mind, I had opted to try my hand at applying the forge welding techniques I had learned only hours earlier to draw the small chunk of metal out into a small dagger blade; opting to create most of the final shape in the smithing process itself. Rose had entered into the forge somewhere near to the end of the break to watch, probably thinking she was being sneaky, and started giving further advice to me like when I should remove the piece from the heat or where I should strike with the hammer.

The piece now laid in a mostly finished state, only final grinding and polishing against the piece of whetstone I had and was wrapped in layers of leather in order to not only protect myself, but protect the unfinished blade until tomorrow when I could get at it again.

“Bright and early tomorrow morning! Forge gets fired up at sunrise, I want you here before then!” Crescent Rose commanded from within, but gave me a waved goodbye regardless before shutting the doors and locking up for the night.

Stuffing my hands into my jean pockets for the walk home in darkness, I noticed that only a couple other ponies were actually out and about and all of them wearing either generic guard armour or wearing very dark clothing and darting around past the guards.

Continuing down the street in plain view of the guardsponies, who all either eyed me over suspiciously or gave a curt nod in recognition, I ensured that while everyone around me was going about their suspicious activities that I remained in plain view to establish a potential alibi.

Apparently it was a good thing that I did when an explosion suddenly erupted from a couple streets ahead and to the left. Instinctively ducking to a nearby stall for cover, I remained there just long enough for my ears to stop ringing and my balance to return before taking off at a sprint towards the new blaze along with most of the guards galloping after me.

Many of the pegasi guards had taken flight and were streaming in droves towards the fires over the other buildings around them, sparking the idea that I could launch myself over the rows of dwellings with my own version of flight.

Was it a bird? Was it a plane? No! It was me! Leaping over a building in a single explosive bound! Using short bursts of my jet engine spell from my hands to not only launch me upwards but also slow my fall enough to land without breaking anything and repeating, I quickly caught up with the rest of the flying guards and landed with them in a stumble. Needed to work on that landing…

The building before us roared in flames with many ponies who’d probably been elsewhere volunteering to try and help put out the fires with buckets of water while pegasi, Dash included if the rainbow streaks were any indication, moved heavy storm clouds over the buildings to get the rain to try and put things out.

Noticing that the water was having next to no effect on the fire, I began to assume that the fire was a liquid based blaze which would mean that it would need… a Class… B extinguisher. Man, those years in construction really coming into play here…

“It’s not working! We need more water!” a pegasus stallion declared from above, black in fur with almost white mane and tail hair.

“Then get to it Thunderlane! Go declare a state of emergency at the weather station and get them cranking out storm clouds!” Rainbow’s voice demanded quickly and from out of sight. Couldn’t even see her inner flame.

“Shit, there are still ponies trapped inside!” A guard announced from near to me, pointing with a hoof as a single pony appeared at a second story window, beating on the glass with her hooves.

“Where’s your fire department?” I asked hurriedly given that everyone here fighting the flames seemed to all be volunteers. “Get them in there!”

“What’s a fire department?” the guard who’d acknowledged the trapped pony within asked back, looking confused. I gaped at the pony in disbelief before taking a deep breath and aiming myself at the door to the apparent banking establishment.

“Okay, then we’ve got a lot to do in coming months!” I mumbled to myself but loud enough for the pony to hear me and ignore me. I took off at a sprint and vaulted myself up towards the glass that the pony had been beating against with a burst of jet power. As I sailed through the air, I could already begin to feel the absolutely hellish heat of the fire within even before I curled myself up into a cannon ball and smashed through the glass.

With a new sudden hole, the fires rushed out above us with a mighty whooshing as I spread myself out over the pony and kept her covered with my now sizzling body.

“Geez, we should really stop meeting like this; ponies are going to talk!” the unmistakable voice of Amethyst Star announced with a giggle from beneath me.

Once it was… safer to do so, I stood myself up and hauled the pony to her hooves.

“What the hell are you doing here?” I demanded before reminding myself of why I had come up here to burn myself to death in the first place. Before she could reply, I held her short, “Never mind, tell me later! Is anyone else in here with you?”

“Not that I’m aware of, no!” Amethyst called back and accepted me picking her up by around her chest and under her butt to carry her to the window. “Uhm, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I can’t fly!”

“No, but the pegasi outside can catch you!” I shouted back and stood at the break in the window to get the attention of the ponies below. A pair of pegasi flew down, cowering back from the blaze behind me long enough for me to hand Star off to the pair and let her float down with their help.

Stepping back a ways, I was about to take a running leap out of the building when the sound of coughing barely alerted me to more ponies in the building. Shit.

“Hello?” I called out with as much of a drill sergeant’s voice as I could muster. “Is anyone still in here?”

“Y-yes!” A very weak voice replied from behind a wall of flaming debris. “Help us, please!”

“I’ll do my damned, ma’am!” I called back and approached the wall to fiery death to examine how I could try to get around it. It wasn’t happening. “Can you get somewhere safe?”

“I… I think we're safe here, for now!” The little feminine voice called back in fear.

“Then I have an idea, just wait okay?” I requested and back pedalled towards the window I had entered into where another pair of pegasi were waiting. Addressing the pair, “Get everyone back away from here, I’m going to try something dangerous to stop the fire!”

“Yes sir!” both ponies saluted back before floating back down to the ground to begin evacuations. Meanwhile, I stepped back away from the window till I was in the midst of the blaze and aimed myself towards the window with hands out before me. Felt like the blast portion of a galick gun blast…

Firing up my jet engine spell in both hands, I leaned myself forwards to try and counteract the force of the seal start up with my weight and feet which were beginning to melt and blend into the floor. Hurt like a mother fucker but if it’s rooted me, then it would serve to help my idea.

Being in an enclosed area while the engines fired up and began to power up, I felt the intense air around me begin to get sucked into the seals around my hands and then get fired out the other end and out the window. Leaning forwards even more, I pushed as much power into the spell as I could, hoping to draw out as much air from the building and get the fire moving with the airflow or eventually die out from lack of oxygen.

The flames coming from the seals began to shift from orange to white as the increased oxygen began to funnel raw flames past my hands, scorching my skin and grilling my fingers to an unpleasant black char. Grinding my teeth together against the unbelievable pain, I focused on the task of pushing as much of whatever magical energy in me I had left into the spell.

Soon the power left me drained and the spells dissipated. Fortunately, I had cleared out just enough fire and air that everything left burning in here was nothing more than small campfire flames and were easily controllable now.

Panting heavily from exertion and severe burns all over my body, I let my arms drop to my sides and began cracking the crispy skin from my hands, letting the fresh and regenerated skin underneath come forth. There was still plenty of bleeding wounds from where the regeneration hadn’t gotten to, but those would heal in time.

Sucking in a deep breath I ripped my feet from the floor, leaving most of my soles with the destroyed carpet and an ear splitting scream from my lungs hang about as I automatically moved to the debris nearby to begin moving it away.

“Are… are you okay in there?” I called out weakly and hoisted a beam out of the way with a little more than difficulty. With it not moving, I could only hear the sounds of heavy breathing and crying from beyond the blockade. This beam was not moving.

And then it did. Quite easily, in fact. Pushing the beam aside, I looked down to find the healthy body of Rainbow Dash at my side helping to clear away some of the fallen ceiling with her hooves.

“Our turn to be the hero, Skidrow.” Dash grinned back as I was moved out of the way by a trio of large pegasi stallions sweating profusely from underneath their armour. “We’ll take it from here.” she added as a fourth and fifth pegasi entered into the room to take me by my charred arms and airlift me from the building.

With me mumbling back about continuing to help but ultimately being ignored, I was taken out of the way of the residual heat and laid down on a stretcher before a blanket covered my body and a plastic mask was placed over my mouth to provide me oxygen by a squeeze bulb.

I don’t know what else happened to me since darkness rushed to greet me again.

I'm impressed. Get up. Try again.

Groaning came with the wakefulness that prevailed death number… whatever. The second thing to come was the sound of rhythmic beeping from my right and a distinct feeling of weight on both sides of whatever it was I was laying on. Muffled groaning came second to the beeping and every inch of my face and body either burned or itched like a mother fucker all at once. Opening my eyes, I let out a disappointed whine when my sight remained black despite everything. I was fucking blind again.

Rustling on my left told me that somepony was moving around upon noticing that I’d woken up and let out a tiny gasp. Sounded like… Twilight? Then who was on my right?

“You’re awake?” Yep, that was Twilight. The familiar feeling of my head tingling told me that she was doing something with my itchy face with her magic and I couldn’t help but wish she’d scratch the itch that was slowly driving me bat-shit insane. “Hold on, let me get these bandages off you, you probably don’t need them anymore anyways.”

Ahh, bandages. That would explain the itchiness and I hoped to oblivion for my blindness.

A minute of rustling and my head being moved forward to allow for access behind me and light began to gradually seep in through the cloth mummifying me.

Finally, the bandages on my head were completely removed and I opened my eyes to sight and gave a breath of relief. On my chest was Twilight, balling up the wad of cloth bandages before giving them a chuck into a nearby garbage can. On my right, still resting and curled up against my leg, was Rainbow Dash covered in soot and grime.

“How do you feel?” Twilight asked with a smile as she hopped down from my chest to return to where I’d felt her curled up at my left leg before.

“Like I just presented myself as a thanksgiving turkey to an oven.” I mumbled back and lifted my still bandaged hand to scratch at my clean shaven face. Apparently facial hair didn’t grow back in with the regeneration. Checking to see if I had eyebrows rewarded my face with the feeling of hairs being brushed against their grain of growth and told me that it was just facial hair that didn’t grow back. Checking the top of my head found myself bald and I sighed. Apparently hair growth was selective.

“A what turkey?” Twilight’s face dropped in fearful disgust, reminding me that they didn’t eat meat like turkey for the holidays.

“A thanksgiving turkey. I think something generically similar would be… end of Harvest?” I raised an eyebrow as I tried to make the connection. “Typical for humans would be to eat turkey, ham or sometimes chicken if the budget doesn’t allow for the larger bird. Massive spread for an entire family and extended family.”

“Right, yes I forgot you humans ate meat… We’ll have to remember to get you something appropriate for Hearth’s Warming in a couple months.” Twilight sighed and calmed herself down, resting her head on her crossed hooves. “So, you’re a hero now.” she announced with a warm smile.

“Don’t really feel like it.” I grumbled back and stared up at the speckled ceiling tiles. “I didn’t really do all that much.”

“That is straight up not true!” Twilight announced, standing herself up to hop down from the bed altogether and approached the curtain separating me from whoever was next over. “Let me introduce you to the ponies you saved last night!”

Drawing back every curtain in the room, I sat forward to greet five ponies all watching me along the same wall as me, and then five more across the room from me, all watching me with warm smiles. One of them I recognized as Amethyst Star, laying across the room from me directly. Next to me, on my left, laid a butter yellow pegasus mare with pink hair and small bandages on her face.

“Ten of you? I only remember… two…” I sat back and got comfortable again. “Amethyst and a small voice.”

“That voice…” the pegasus next to me began, “Was me.”

“Soren, you saved Fluttershy. She’s one of Rainbow’s and my best friends along with Rarity, Applejack and Pinkie Pie. By drawing all the fire out of the second story of the bank, you saved ten ponies by allowing the local guard, and Rainbow Dash, access to the building without them getting hurt.

“Thank you very much for saving all of us, we really appreciate it.” Fluttershy announced, drawing cheering from the other ponies who could do so and weren’t bandaged as heavily as I appeared to be. Amethyst merely watched me in silence, most of her upper face bandaged but her muzzle left free to contain a massive grin.

“The town wants to give you a medal for your heroics and a ceremony has been organized for the event. When you’re capable, we’ll be on-” Twilight began to explain with an accompaniment of notes of gratitude.

I cut her off, “I decline. I didn’t do anything in order to be labelled a hero or to gain any awards. I don’t want either.” I announced, silencing the entire room. “The thanks from everypony here who i’ve saved is enough. I don’t need, I don’t want a big event or any event. I’m a soldier, I do what I did because it was what I should do.”

“But, the rest of town already knows what you did last night. You should give them the opportunity to thank you for your heroics.” the unicorn mare before me protested, with Amethyst giving an agreeing nod.

“Then they can do so when they meet me on the street. I will not accept any rewards and I will not attend any events. That’s final.” I replied firmly, staring Twilight down to drive the point home. “Since I’m probably already healed, I’m going to work.”

“But,” Twilight began to protest further, however I held her short again with a hand and sitting myself up to begin the task of unravelling my body bandages.

Once I was unbandaged and dressed in a set of new clothing with a tag of Rarity’s butt print inside, I stopped at the room door to address everyone still recovering inside. “Thank you all for the thanks, that will be all.” I gave a curt nod before taking my leave, leaving Twilight to deal with Rainbow Dash who still slept on my vacant bed.

~~~

“Hey, Soren!” Crescent Rose yelled at me over the sound of me hammering a billet. I looked up from the swing and held my arm still to glance over at the pony as she entered into the forge. “You’ve got visitors!”

“I’m also in the middle of folding this billet, either you take over or they wait.” I remarked and went back to hammering down on the glowing red chunk of metal in my control.

“I’ll take over. You’ve got guards here to see you, it’s probably important.” Rose remarked and took control of the piece I was working on for me, leaving me to wipe my hands off on my apron and step into the shop portion of the building.

In the display room, looking at various pieces of weaponry and armour, stood three Guards in formal attire. When they noticed I’d entered, they all collected themselves and stood at attention.

“Sir, you are the human who helped rescue eleven ponies in last night’s explosion?” the lead pony requested, staring at me with the eyes of a militant.

“I am,” I replied and retrieved an already dirty cloth to further clean my hands off on. “What can I do for you three?”

“We heard you were a soldier in your past life,” I held the pony short with a hand.

“I’m happy here learning how to smith. Thanks for the offer.”

“Not the nature of our visit, but noted.” The Captain replied with a practised smile. “We’re here because we would like for you to lead us to the homes of two guards who lost their lives trying to rescue ponies in last night’s events. We… don’t really have experience giving loved ones the bad news. Since you’re the one who saved the ponies, we think they’ll take it a bit better from a hero.”

“You want me to be the messenger of death…” I concluded with a sorrowful release of breath. “I do have experience…”

“Will you do it?” The guard on the right, a bulky female, asked hopefully. “We would be more than grateful.”

“Fine, but only this once.” I announced and held a finger up to motion to wait. I turned back to the forge room. “Oi, Crescent Rose. The Guards want me to act the messenger of Death so i’ll be back in like… half an hour!”

“Consider it your lunch break!” Rose shouted back over the hammering of her hoof to the billet now being drawn out to length. “And make it an hour!”

“Got it boss!” I called back and removed my apron to hang on the wall nearby to where the rest of the tools hung in wait. I never liked doing the messenger of death bit, given that usually it was because I knew the person who’d died, but this time I could remain objective and hope that I had some kind of rehearsed line I would give.

With a nod, the trio of guards escorted me from the blacksmith and towards Twilight’s so I could change into my military formals before diverting to the families waiting to hear from their loved ones. I was about to destroy some lives.