The Kindom Beneath the Mountainby SawtoothetheriumChaptersWait and BleedKnowledge and a chanceThe ForgeArmorEscapePatienceAwkwardWait and BleedLuna staggered along the now shallow slope of the mountaintop her blood staining the snow. The griffin scout had found her fleeing and had attempted to capture her and bring her back to canterlot to be placed in a cell like her sister and the six mares. Spikes fate was unknown as he had disappeared when the griffins finally took the city. Luna hoped he made it out, he could appeal to his dragoness friend and ask for the dragons aid. Luna had fought the scout and won but ended up with an arrow in the shoulder and several injuries from the griffins claws. The one good thing was that griffins couldn’t stand cold weather, so up here she was safe from them, the cold could not harm her. She had impaled the griffin on her horn when he leapt at her, and now his blood stained her horn and face. Luna had forsaken her royal attire and stood bare to the wind. She felt the wind blow in her now natural mane, she had let her mane and tail retain a natural state to blend in with the night better as a flowing mane made of night sky. Her light blue mane was slightly messy and went down past her chest, her tail was a bit long and dragged slightly on the ground. Her blood and that of the griffin was dry in her mane and tail making her look like a deranged psycokiller. Luna collapsed on the ground and bagan hyperventilating, her blood continued to pool around her. Lunas vision grew blurry and she briefly spied a dark pony a few feet away, she couldn’t register it all before she passed out. Luna woke up with a blanket covering her and on a comfy mattress. She opened her eyes and blinked a few times to get the blurr out of her vision and looked around. She was in a stone room, the bed she was on had a stone frame and the bookshelves lining the wall her back legs were nearest to lined were stone too. On the wall opposite the bookshelf was a window about four six feet up and two feet tall, there were tattered drapes on them. The drapes were of a grey cloth and only a bit thicker than paper, the bottom of the drapes were torn and had holes in them. Luna looked down at herself to see a thin grey blanket covering her. She lifted the blankets to find that she was bandaged in all places she was injured. She also noticed that she was clothed. There was a grey shirt the cloth thick and comfy with a v-neck collar, the pants were similar except the shirt came down to about the middle of her back legs. The pants came down to her ankles so that her hooves were still on the ground and her tail came out the back of the pants and shirt. Luna pulled the blankets back up and decided it was best to rest, if she moved too much to soon it would only cause more damage than had already been done. Only a few minutes later a stallion came in through the door by the window. He was a bit bigger than she was and a black coated batpony. He was clothed too but not near as simply, he wore a grey tunic over a leather breastplate and a short fur cape that came only about halfway down his back. He had a fur kilt secured by a belt that had a sword in a sheath on his left hip. He had on iron boots and gauntlets too protect his hooves. He came in and approached her. “I was wondering when you’d wake up,” He said in a deep voice with a heavy Trottish accent. “Ya took quite the beatin out there.” “Thank you for tending my injuries sir,” Luna said to him. “What do I call ye lass?” “Luna. What is your name?” “I am Shade.” “Nice to meet you Shade, and thanks again.” “How did you end up the way ya did?” Shade asked her, “It looked like ya got into a fight with a wolf or somethin.” “Griffin, actually.” She said to him, “I am from the nation Equestria, which has recently been taken by the griffins. I managed to get out of the war zone when a griffin scout found me heading north and tried to apprehend me. I killed him while he got me in several places, it was more luck than anything.” “Well it certainly seemed to be,” He said, “Ya nearly bled out.” “Where am I?” Luna asked him. “Ye are in Donladur, a city under the mountain.” “We’re underground?” Luna asked surprised. “Yes,” He awnsered. “What did you plan on doing up north when you escaped the griffins.” “Recover, devise a plan to get my sister out of their prison and get her and myself to a friendly nation in hopes that they might help.” “Well the only thing ye can do now is stay here and recover. Ye may as well stay here, it seems that the griffins will be lookin for ya and it seems that stayin with us is yer best option.” “For now at least,” Luna said, “and thank you again.” “Your welcome. Ye should be up and walkin around if a few days.” He heard a deep horn sound and said, “I need to get back to work, I will speak with you when I come home. Until then get some rest, ya need it.” So Shade turned and left the house again and left Luna to her thoughts. She noticed that these ponies seemed to value clothing, she should leave the clothes that had been put on her on. She also thought she should hide her wings, she would prefer her horn be hidden but the wings were easier. Luna closed her eyes and decided to try for sleep, she had just charged the moon with enough magic to raise and lower itself for a few weeks so she didn’t need to worry much. She drifted into sleep, curious about Shades culture. Knowledge and a chanceLuna woke to the sound of a fire crackling and looked to see Shade cooking over a woodstove. He looked at her and smiled gently. “I just got back and you’re already awake.” He said. “I’m a light sleeper.” She said sitting up. “Don’t move too fast,” He said, “Those injuries were only patched up this morning.” Luna moved slowly but deliberately when she rose from the bed. She walked over to him on shaky legs and sat next to the fire. Shade looked at her and saw the confused expression on her face. “You have questions.” He said to her. “Yes.” She replied. “Well ask them.” “I wish to know of your culture, formalities, traditions, laws, and expectations.” “Why?” “Because it looks as though I will be here for a while and the more I know the less trouble I will get in. At least in this case.” “Reasonable. We are mostly miners, blacksmiths, armorers, bladesmiths and masons in the lower class. Which is where you find yourself. The middle class is mostly soldiers and warriors from lowest rank to the middle ones. The upper class are the higher military ranks, engineers, alchemists, mages, scientists and royals. I am a bladesmith and armorer so I have a small amount of combat training if ever I am called for duty. The lower class can be called for military service, and when the fifteen years of service are over they are allowed to retire, same case for those honorably discharged. The upper class is only half military, the engineers and architects aren’t sent off to war as they are important for the city itself. The alchemists and scientists are the same case. The mages however can be sent off to war, if they can cast combat spells they are put on the fifth line back, typically behind a phalanx with archers behind them. If they are better at healing magic then combat or illusion magic they are dispatched as field medics if they are good at patch jobs, the more specialized are in the camp and take care of the more critically injured.” “So your culture is more about hard work of the body than anything.” “Not quite, our scientists are pretty much the same thing as alchemists except they are less taboo. They search for logical reasoning and new cures for diseases while alchemists are more traditional and simply look in one of their books for the cure to the ailment. In other words, the scientists study the ailment while the alchemists actually do something about it.” “I see,” Luna said while making sure to remember all of this. “In the case of formalities there aren’t many, at least not where you will be. Just try not to be offensive to anyone, they dont take insults lightly and will likely try to do you harm. There may however be an exception to this as you are new here and they will likely understand. Now what to expect here, we may be far north and underground but you will find that it is very hot here. There are three entire levels dedicated to forges alone, there are vents to take the smoke out so you wont have to worry about choking on the air you breathe. Also, dont be surprised if you hear voices echoing across the city, we are a very musical people, it isn’t uncommon for three different levels to be joined in the same song, in fact there have been several occasions when all sixty eight of them were joined in song.” “S-sixty eight?” “Well, the sixty eight that are always occupied. We have nine more dedicated to storage.” Luna remained silent, to shocked to speak. Luna snapped back to reality, “I would like to pull my weight around here once I have recovered enough to work. I will be stuck here for a while and there is nothing I hate more than being idle and useless.” Shade thought for a moment, “I can teach you my craft, it will take a while to learn but it can be done.” “You would do that?” Luna asked hopefully. “Yes, I would. I would need to speak with the forgemaster but he is a nice enough pony, I have no doubt that he will agree with and support your education into the craft, he may just tutor you himself on some occasions. I will speak with him tomorrow and see what can be arranged.” “Thank you.” “Of course, I hope you’re up to it, it can be physically taxing.” “If it means I’m not dead weight then I will see it through to the end.” “That’s the spirit.” Shade then rose and got two bowls and filled them with red soup. He began eating with his spoon and Luna did the same. It tasted of beets and onions with several other herbs mixed in. She liked it. “What kind of soup is this?” Luna asked. “It’s called, borscht. It is a common dish here, and the taste is so great that even the royals enjoy it despite how cheap it is to make it.” “Hmm,” Luna said nodding before returning to her bowl of food. They ate in silence for a few more minutes. Then Shade decided to ask a few questions of his own. “Who are the griffins? I have heard of them but I have never seen a griffin before and there are none in our kingdom.” He asked. “The griffins are a violent and greedy race, they are half lion and half eagle giving them a natural edge in a fight. They tend to eat fish but they can eat tougher meats just as easily. They set their sights on equestria when their own homeland became too barren, they were in a severe drought and simply decided to invade as tensions between us and them were already strained.” “Alright, what are ye exactly. You have the horn of a unicorn and the wings of a pegasus, I have never heard of such a thing.” “I am what would be called an alicorn. There are only four of us in existence that I know of, myself included. But please keep it between us, I dont want to draw a lot of attention.” Luna said. “I will keep your wings a secret,” He said after some thought. “Thank you,” Luna said again, she didn’t know how many times she would say that to him during her stay. The ForgeLuna had been in Donladur for a full week and had recovered enough that she was now able to be taught how to forge a blade, which would be her profession until there was a chance she could get Celestia, Twilight and the rest of them out of the dungeons of canterlot. She was eager to learn and Shade actually began instructing her during the last three days of the previous week, she had listened carefully and already knew how to handle a forge with relatively good efficiency. Now she just needed to learn how to shape metal and temper it properly, as well as experience. So Luna followed Shade down a large chamber with furnaces almost as big as the throne room of canterlot spread for miles in every direction. Luna was already sweating up a storm and she hadn’t even started working yet. Shade approached a stallion slightly bigger than he was who was waiting by an unoccupied forgespace. Luna could already hear the heavy ring of hammers striking hot metal. “Hello Shade,” The stallion said, “and this is the mare you said you wished to teach if I am not mistaken.” “Ye are right forgemaster, this mare wishes to learn the craft of a bladesmith and you said that I may teach her.” “I did,” the forgemaster said, “I would however like to see how much she already knows. I want to make sure that I know what to expect from her and that I wont be disappointed.” “I dont think you will be,” Shade said. “What is your name?” The forgemaster asked her. “Luna,” she told him. “Well Luna, light the furnace and lets see what you know.” Luna lit the fire in the furnace and did a decent job of keeping it at the right temperature. The forgemaster nodded impressed, perhaps she wouldn’t be in training as long as he had first thought. Luna tended to the furnace for a few more minutes and made sure there was a sufficient fuel supply then turned to the forgemaster to gauge his reaction. “Go on.” He said. “That is all I know how to do so far sir.” Luna told him. “Well there is no harm in that. As long as you can learn. Take the rod of metal from the stack next to the anvil and heat it in the furnace. When it glows red take it to the anvil and flatten it into a blade and tang, me and Shade will guide you as needed.” Luna found the stack of six steel rods and took one. It was about two inches in diameter which would make it three inches wide and three fourths of an inch thick if formed properly. She stuck it into the fire of the furnace with enough of the rod sticking out at her that she could grab it with her hoof without burning herself, because it would be difficult to strike the rod hard enough for it to count while gripping it with tongs. While she waited for the metal to heat up she grabbed the heaviest of the hammers for the rough shaping of the blade, she would use the two smaller hammers when more fine shaping was done. Luna waited for the rod to heat up enough to begin shaping it into a blade. When the rod glowed red she pulled it from the furnace and placed the hot end on the anvil and began to strike the metal. She hammered away at it until it was three fourths inches thick and then she began to form the tip, she made the tip rounded into a point to make more of a hacking weapon than a stabbing one but to make stabbing still effective. She put the rod back in the fire as it was to cool for any effective shaping to be done then switched out the large hammer for the medium one. Luna pulled out the new blade then bagan to strike it at two different angles to make the angle of the blade. The sword would be double edged so she made an very acute peak on each edge and a very obtuse peak on each side to make an acceptable blade shape. Then she put the rod back in the furnace and grabbed the small hammer to smooth over the surface of the blade. She waited a few seconds then pulled the rod out and began lightly striking the surface and smoothing it over, refining the surface of the blade. The forgemaster observed the newest bladesmith impressed by her skill. All in all she made a few mistakes, but that was to be expected. But he had expected her to make more mistakes than she had. Luna then took the tongs and grabbed the now cool base of the blade and stuck the other end in the fire and seized the large hammer. She would start working on the tang. When the back of the rod was hot enough she pulled it out and began hammering it into shape. She flattened the back end and thinned it out to an inch and a half wide but three fourths of an inch thick. When the tang was finished Luna thrust the now made sword into the fire and held it there watching the tip for the right hardening color. When she saw the color on the tip she yanked the sword from the furnace and thrust it into the barrel of water. It entered with a satisfying hiss and steam rose from the barrel. Luna pulled the now glistening blade from the water and set it gently on the anvil so that the forgemaster and Shade could inspect it. Shade approached the sword first and looked it over carefully. There were a few subtle dents in the blade from the hammer but that was nothing to worry much about. It looked strong and well made. Luna felt dread grip her as Shade looked over her blade with a critical eye. He looked at her and smiled. “You impress me Luna,” He said, “You made a couple mistakes but most in your position make three times as many. The sword is well made and looks durable. You did well.” ArmorThree weeks had passed since Luna was tested on her skill with a hammer. She had grown in skill since then and was already working a forge on her own, she still required advice from time to time and got a couple things wrong every now and then, but she was good enough and improving daily. She continued to pound the hot metal in rhythm with the others she heard around her. The other blacksmiths were singing as they went. The song was deep and rumbly, so against anything Luna could produce as a note so she listened. It set her into a rhythm of work and made it go a lot smoother. She had already forged eighteen swords that morning and was going to work without a break until lunch which was provided to the workers. She continued to strike, heat, strike, heat, shape, harden and repeat the process with the next steel rod. Luna was beginning to enjoy the life of a bladesmith, simple. She didn’t miss the life she had as a princess, but she did miss her sister. Luna thought as she worked, she had gotten good at that. How would she get her sister and the others out? She didn’t have an army. She couldn’t expose herself because she didn’t know how the ponies of Donladur would react. She couldn’t speak with the king as her class was not worthy to so much as look at him, at least thats what the guards said to her. And she couldn’t do it herself because she had no backup and it would arouse suspicion. Luna continued to try and formulate a plan while working, she turned the blade over and began to shape that side. She looked up and saw Shade approaching her. She smiled at him and nodded in greeting. “You’re doing well I see,” He said. “That I am,” Luna said, “You have really helped me out with teaching me these methods.” “My thanks,” He said. “I am the one who should be thanking you.” “You’ve done enough of that already. I wanted to ask you something.” “Go ahead, if I can help you it would be the least I could do.” “I wanted to know if you would like to accompany me and some of the boys on a scouting mission.” Luna paused, “But what about my work here?” “Scouting missions will replace a days work, you will still have a job here but you will be scouting out the countryside for any problems for a few days.” “So I dont need to worry?” “No, you needn’t worry about a thing.” “Well then, I would be delighted. How do scouting missions work exactly?” “Well first, we need to get you some armor.” “I thought only soldiers get armor.” “Only they get the plate and mail armor. We can get fur, leather and maybe some light mail if we can afford it. Come lets get you outfitted.” “Now?” “Yes, I have already spoken with the forgemaster, he has agreed to this. This happens every time a newbie gets called for a scouting mission so this isn’t uncommon.” “Ok, what do I do with what I’m working on now?” “Well, you’ve been working on it the entire time we’ve been talking and now it only needs to be hardened.” Luna looked at the blade she held in the fire, he was right. She had been working on it without even realizing she was. She saw the right hardening color on the tip then quickly thrust the blade into the water and let it cool. Then she set the blade next to the others she had completed. That was twenty nine swords that day. Luna then put the hammer down and put out the furnace fire. Then turned to follow Shade. He lead her down the rows of forges and up a couple staircases that lead to a small stone room, not that there was any other material in the city that rooms were made of. On the walls were a number of sets of armor, all of them were leather and fur. There in the middle of the room was a tanning rack and workbench with a unicorn mare working on making another set of armor. She looked up to see Shade and her come in. “Hello,” She said smiling, “Who needs a new set of armor?” “This, is Luna. She is going on her first scouting mission tomorrow and needs a set of armor.” The mare approached Luna and began circling her sizing her up. She took a few measurements and then left the room via a door in the back. She came back with a set of fur armor. She gave them to Luna and instructed her to put them on. Luna first strapped on the leather breastplate and shoulder guards. All of it was hardened leather with softer leather padding inside, it hugged her figure tightly and would provide relatively good protection. Next she put on the fur war skirt, it only reached to half of the way down her back legs but it could stop a sword or claw. Then she put on the boots and bracers, both made of fur on the inside and thick layer of leather on the outside. They were held in place by leather straps that were wrapped around the entire thing then laced in and tied. There was no helmet. She heard Shade take a silent and barely audible intake of breath. She turned to see him staring. “What?” She asked. “I never thought that I would ever find a mare attractive in armor.” Luna blushed slightly at the compliment, then remembered her long mane. “Could I have a short strand,” Luna asked the mare. “Of what?” She asked. “It doesn’t really matter.” Luna was given a short strip of leather, and used it to tie her mane back. “So it doesn’t get in the way?” Shade asked. “So it doesn’t get in the way.” Luna confirmed. Shade looked Luna over, to say breathtaking would make the royal tailors and stylists to blow their blood vessels in anger at the understatement. Shade tried to find word for it but his brain short circuited at the sight of the mare before him. Beautiful, just beautiful. “Hello?” Luna said a little worried. “Hmm?” He asked being snapped out of it, “Oh sorry. Lost in thought.” Luna nodded. “You know the way back to the house dont you?” He asked. “I do.” “Well please go and wait there, I have some business to finish.” Luna nodded, “Should I take the armor off.” “No dear,” The mare said, “It’s fine.” Luna nodded then turned to leave. Once she was gone the mare elbowed Shade in the ribs. “Smooth,” She said chuckling. “Oh shut up Cats Hide.” “You like her dont you?” Hide said teasingly. “I...” “There is no point in lying and you wont have to worry about her hearing this. Just be honest.” “Ah... Yes, I suppose I do.” “Well she’s quite the catch so dont let her go.” Hide told him. “Tell her if you want this to be a healthy relationship, the least she can say is no.” “I suppose you’re right. But now isn’t the time, she is already nervous about the scouting round, she doesn’t need something like that weighing on her mind.” A sad excuse but the best he had. “Just dont wait too long. Or someone else will ask her, and soon.” “Oh how do you know.” “Have you seen her?” Shade hesitated for a minute, “Fair point.” EscapeCanterlot Dungeons Celestia hid above the door to the cell that held her for weeks. She was waiting for a griffin to come in and check to see if she was hiding. She didn’t need to wait long. She heard the door open and quickly swung to kick the unfortunate griffin in the beak, knocking him out cold. She approached the unconscious griffin and took the keys from him. From there she went down the cell block and found the cells holding Twilight and the rest of them. Celestia approached the first cell and unlocked it, which drew their attention. The pony inside was rainbow dash, she looked up and found Celestia standing in the doorway. She got up from her sitting position in surprise. “Princess?” She asked quietly. “Just Celestia.” She said, “We’re getting out of here. Watch the hall and warn me if any griffins head this way.” “Yes Princess.” “Just Celestia,” She said, “I’m no princess, not anymore.” Rainbow went to watch the hallway while Celestia went to the other cells to get the rest out. The next cell had Fluttershy, who was quietly crying in the corner. She looked up to see the door open and peeked out to see Celestia opening the others. Twilight and her friends were the only ones down there besides Celestia, the guards were killed in the assault. Celestia soon had the rest of them out of their cells and they came up behind rainbow. “All clear.” Rainbow whispered. So the group sneaked through the halls of the lower castle and exited through a side door. They made their way across the gardens before they heard the alarm bell. “Twilight, Rarity,” Celestia said, “Teleport yourselves and pinkie and applejack to the northern base of the mountain and wait for us there, I will teleport myself and Fluttershy as well as Rainbow dash.” They emmediately obeyed, Twilight teleported AJ and Rarity teleported Pinkie. When those four were gone Celestia charged up her own teleportation spell and teleported the three remaining ponies to the northern base of the mountain where the rest were waiting. Celestia did a headcount, all of them were there. “What happened to Spike?” Celestia asked Twilight. “He fled south to the dragon kingdom, he is safe.” Twilight assured her. Celestia sighed thankful that they may have some allies. “What about Princess Luna?” Twilight asked. “I dont know.” Celestia said, “She fled north, but the yaks aren’t the freindliest to a pony who needs help. I cant help but worry.” “Well lets go after her,” Rainbow said, “If spike is safe for sure then we had best look for a sign of your sister. Make sure she’s okay before anything else.” The rest nodded in agreement. So they began to walk north, only moving by night, which was a sign that Luna was doing well enough to raise the moon every night. Celestia had begun with the sun again which would serve as a clue to say that Celestia had escaped. They traveled north until they reached the mountains, where a small group of griffins found them. “Come quietly,” The seargent told them, “and no punishment will be issued.” Celestia responded by impaling him with her horn before blasting his still impaled body with magic. The group of now four griffins attacked her, only to be interrupted by either magic or a punch. Twilight and Rarity fired magic beams at two griffins with leathal intent while the other two were knocked back by AJ and RB. RB had flown fast enough to reduce the griffins beack to shards of bone, and AJ had only hit hard enough to cause unconsciousness. From there the group fled into the mountains and farther north. Much to their dismay, they weren’t near as resistant to cold weather as Luna was so they quickly passed out from hypothermia. Celestia woke with a blanket and clothes on her. She thought it strange that clothes were needed for an equine, but they kept her warm. Celestia opened her eyes to see she was in a bedroll alongside the other six, a few feet away was a group of lightly armored ponies around a fire. There were six of them, all of them male and all wearing nearly identical looking sets of armor. Celestia tried sitting up to get a better look at them but felt a hoof gently push her down. “Not so quickly, you’re still recovering.” Celestias eyes widened, she knew that voice. She looked to her right to see Luna, in a set of fur and leather armor with a sword at her hip, sitting there. “How are you feeling?” Luna asked quietly. Celestia opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out. “Confused?” Luna asked. Celestia nodded. “I will explain everything later. But please don’t address me as “Sister” or hint that you are in any way familiar with me when you speak with the others.” Celestia was confused but nodded in understanding, her sister always had a reason for doing things. One of the stallions from the campfire, a grey batpony, looked at them and called to Luna. “One of them awake?” He asked. “Yes Shade, this one woke up not a minute ago.” Luna said. The batpony called Shade got up and moved over to sit next to Luna and check on Celestia. He put a hoof on her forehead. “She’s still a bit cold.” Shade said quietly. “What’s your name?” “Celestia.” She awnsered. “We found you down south. Unconscious and in a state of hypothermia. Can you tell me how you came here?” “Yes, my friends and I were fleeing from the griffins who have just recently taken over the nation we call home.” Shade took a sideways glance at Luna, he had heard this before. “So it really has happened.” “You didn’t believe me?” Luna asked. “It’s not that I didn’t believe you. It’s that I wasn’t absolutely certain. You were still a stranger to me at the time.” Luna snorted. Shade returned to the campfire and Luna remained there to tend to the ponies. PatienceLuna stood haunched over the anvil of her workstation, she was slightly more distracted than normal. She had been this way ever since they had found Celestia and the others two days prior. They had recovered from their hypothermia by then and Luna was expecting to be visited. And visited she was. Celestia came down as she was hammering away at another sword. Luna didn’t hear her come up behind her, her ears were to filled with the sound of ringing metal. She shoved the blade back into the furnace and turned suddenly to see Celestia not five feet from her. She was grateful that she no longer had the rod of steel in her grip, she would have dropped it from fright otherwise. “Please, dont do that while I’m working with steel.” Luna said. “I’d have to restart completely if I drop it.” “Sorry.” She said. “I came to see you.” “And ask questions I gather.” Luna responded. “Now is probably a good time. No one is like to be listening.” “Indeed.” Celestia said glumly. “How did you get here? And why are you here doing this?” “Simple enough.” Luna said pulling the steel from the furnace. She set the blade on the anvil and began shaping it once more. “I got here because the stallion Shade found me. I was unconscious due to blood loss and he brought me to his home, patched me up, and taught me his trade. I didn’t know how long I would be here or even if these ponies were friendly to equestria. So I decided I would need a good base to start in case it took a while. I had planned to make sure I had a place to go to before I attempted a rescue.” “Well, that worked out well.” Celestia said. “You have a job, a home... and a cute stallion.” Luna fumbled as she went to put the rod in the water. A blush covered her muzzle and she just barely managed to get the steel doused right. She glared at Celestia, who had a very large grin on her face. “So you do find him attractive.” Celestia teased giggling. “S-shut up!” Luna said, unable to hide her blush, that now covered her neck too. “And don’t be so familiar with me while in public. We still don’t know if their friendly to equestrians. And I just now earned their trust, I don’t want to loose it.” “Alright, I wont tease you about it, for now.” Celestia mused. “What is the plan from here?” “Well, the plan I had in place just went out the window.” Luna said. “I hadn’t counted on you and the others escaping.” “I’ll be speaking of king soon.” Celestia told her. “The amount of foreigners found in the mountains have caught his attention. He knows who I am and he is going to meet with me, in your coltfriends house no less.” “He’s not my coltfriend!!!” Luna nearly shouted striking the metal she was shaping a little harder than normal. “Alright, alright, dont get angry.” Celestia said. “I’ll see you then.” Celestia left Luna to her work, and leaving her blushing. Luna was thankful that she could blame it on the heat of the furnace. She kept up her work, listening to the song the workers voices were raised in. She struck the hot metal in rhythm to the song. This kept up until it came night and the next group of workers were up. Luna left her forge and returned to Shade’s home, where she found him preparing dinner. “Hello Luna,” he said looking up, “are ye alright?” “Yes, why do you ask?” Luna replied confused. “You look flushed.” He explained standing up, “ye ‘ave never come back like this.” “No, its nothing.” She assured, getting redder. “Is something on your mind?” He questioned further, he knew her better than she thought. “No,” she said slightly panicking, she knew he was onto her. “What is it?” He said bluntly. “I know somethings bothering ye. What is it? Spit it out.” “I... I dont think it’s something you need to worry yourself over.” “Tell me.” Luna sighed, and half-lied half told-the-truth. “I heard the king was coming here to meet with one of the mares we found. I never thought I would ever see him much less be in the same building. You know better than I do how important he is.” “Indeed. That is something to think about. But not something to worry about. He will be here to talk with someone, and that someone isn’t one either us. We likely wont even be around for most of it. So calm down.” He assured her, he knew this wasn’t what was bothering her because of the blush on her face, but he knew that he shouldn’t press it. “I had agreed to meet up with some friends at the bar. I should be going.” “Alright, have fun. I should be getting to bed.” She told him. “Good night then Luna.” Shade sat at the bar, alone. He hadn’t decided to meet with friends as he said he did. In fact he was trying to avoid them as best he could. One of them came by his workplace that day and interrogated him on his relationship with Luna. He hadn’t given him any straight answers, but he didn’t have to, this particular friend was an expert at exposing what is really going on with someone. He got Shade to step into every trap he set, and got all of the details from him without ever really getting him to cooperate. Shade hated this about this particular stallion, Close Observer as his name was, and a fitting name it was. It was about this time that this exact pony showed up at Shade’s table beer in hoof. “Hello Shade, any luck with your marefriend?” “For the last time she isn’t my marefriend.” Shade almost growled. “She auta be.” Close retorted. “It’s clear to everyone that you like her, and that she likes you. There’s no use denying it, just go up and ask her.” “Not going to happen.” Shade replied. “For one thing, I dont like her as anything more than a friend. And two, even if I did like her more than that, she wouldn’t share those feelings.” “Bollucks and you know it!” Close exclaimed, “ye saw it yourself. Now go and ask her!” “Fine! I’ll ask her, but if she says no you won’t be upset if I shove it in your face.” AwkwardShade had just about killed himself the next day when he was working the forge. His own forgemaster came by to tease and interrogate him about Luna. It wasn't intentional, he only lost control of the rod of hot metal and nearly stumbled into the furnace. For the first time in his life, he glared at his forgemaster with something very close to hate. "So how goes it with the newbie?" The forgemaster asked. Shade glared at him with malice, "It isn't, nor will it." "Why not?" The forgemaster asked. "Why would it?" he countered. "Because, you both want it." he said with mock hesitation. "lets find out. She's coming by right now, on her way to drop off her next bundle of weapons. Now get out there and ask her." "In any other case I would listen to you, but when it comes to this kind of thing, no!" he says. He got no further, Luna came down the walkway on her way to the armory with a large bundle of newly made weapons on her back. Before he could react, Shade was literally shoved out into the walkway and almost into Luna. Luna, thankfully, saw all of this. She just smiled at him, seeing the large blush on his face, and with a small blush on her own. She continued to walk, and gave him his own bundle of produced weapons. "Walk with me." she said. He didn't say anything, he just took his own bundle over his shoulder and followed her. "What was he bothering you about?" She asked him when he was out of earshot. "Oh... uh... nothing important." he says in response, desperate to hide his embarrassment. "I'm sure." she says, obviously not convinced. "I'm still curious, what was he talking to you about that caught you so off guard that you nearly stumbled into the furnace?" "Just something I didn't expect, you shouldn't worry about it." he tells her. "I'm not worried." she pressed, certain he was hiding something now. "Tell me." "I..." he couldn't say any more, he cast a glance back to see the forgemaster grinning in his direction. "He and some of my friends have been pressuring me to do something. It isn't bad and they mean well, I just don't really want to do it. They think it would be good for me, it just isn't a priority for me right now." "Mmm." she says. "How interesting." "Why. Why is that interesting?" "Others have been doing pretty much the same thing." She explains. "Saying that I need to approach someone. Any advice on how to get them to leave me alone about that?" "I haven't been very successful about that myself." He chuckles. Inwardly he was frightened. They're after her about it too!? Well this just keeps getting better! Luna looked about to make sure that they were alone, they had left the forges and were now in a narrow hallway that would take them to the armory to drop off the weapons they had produced. "What were they pressuring you for?" She asked in a slightly lowered voice. He knew he wouldn't get out of this, so he took a deep breath, said his prayers, and told her. "They've been pressuring me to ask you out." This caught Luna off guard. Was the world after her?! When will this end?! A blush was very clearly seen on her muzzle, as there was on his. She couldn't say anything, she just stared in shock. After she recovered she inquired. "Why have they?" "I don't know." he admits. "And why don't you?" She asks. "I just never thought to, and when they brought it up the concept scared me." He tells her. "I've grown so used to the same routine, get up, go to the forge, work on weapons and armor, eat, go back to work, come home, eat, sleep. The only real breaks in this is the occasional visit to the tavern or when I'm called for scouting duty, and such a major change just frightened me beyond anything I have ever felt." "I see." She said, not able to help but feel a little disappointed. "So... will you?" He asks sheepishly. Smiling she hugged him. "Of course! How could I say no?"
Wait and BleedLuna staggered along the now shallow slope of the mountaintop her blood staining the snow. The griffin scout had found her fleeing and had attempted to capture her and bring her back to canterlot to be placed in a cell like her sister and the six mares. Spikes fate was unknown as he had disappeared when the griffins finally took the city. Luna hoped he made it out, he could appeal to his dragoness friend and ask for the dragons aid. Luna had fought the scout and won but ended up with an arrow in the shoulder and several injuries from the griffins claws. The one good thing was that griffins couldn’t stand cold weather, so up here she was safe from them, the cold could not harm her. She had impaled the griffin on her horn when he leapt at her, and now his blood stained her horn and face. Luna had forsaken her royal attire and stood bare to the wind. She felt the wind blow in her now natural mane, she had let her mane and tail retain a natural state to blend in with the night better as a flowing mane made of night sky. Her light blue mane was slightly messy and went down past her chest, her tail was a bit long and dragged slightly on the ground. Her blood and that of the griffin was dry in her mane and tail making her look like a deranged psycokiller. Luna collapsed on the ground and bagan hyperventilating, her blood continued to pool around her. Lunas vision grew blurry and she briefly spied a dark pony a few feet away, she couldn’t register it all before she passed out. Luna woke up with a blanket covering her and on a comfy mattress. She opened her eyes and blinked a few times to get the blurr out of her vision and looked around. She was in a stone room, the bed she was on had a stone frame and the bookshelves lining the wall her back legs were nearest to lined were stone too. On the wall opposite the bookshelf was a window about four six feet up and two feet tall, there were tattered drapes on them. The drapes were of a grey cloth and only a bit thicker than paper, the bottom of the drapes were torn and had holes in them. Luna looked down at herself to see a thin grey blanket covering her. She lifted the blankets to find that she was bandaged in all places she was injured. She also noticed that she was clothed. There was a grey shirt the cloth thick and comfy with a v-neck collar, the pants were similar except the shirt came down to about the middle of her back legs. The pants came down to her ankles so that her hooves were still on the ground and her tail came out the back of the pants and shirt. Luna pulled the blankets back up and decided it was best to rest, if she moved too much to soon it would only cause more damage than had already been done. Only a few minutes later a stallion came in through the door by the window. He was a bit bigger than she was and a black coated batpony. He was clothed too but not near as simply, he wore a grey tunic over a leather breastplate and a short fur cape that came only about halfway down his back. He had a fur kilt secured by a belt that had a sword in a sheath on his left hip. He had on iron boots and gauntlets too protect his hooves. He came in and approached her. “I was wondering when you’d wake up,” He said in a deep voice with a heavy Trottish accent. “Ya took quite the beatin out there.” “Thank you for tending my injuries sir,” Luna said to him. “What do I call ye lass?” “Luna. What is your name?” “I am Shade.” “Nice to meet you Shade, and thanks again.” “How did you end up the way ya did?” Shade asked her, “It looked like ya got into a fight with a wolf or somethin.” “Griffin, actually.” She said to him, “I am from the nation Equestria, which has recently been taken by the griffins. I managed to get out of the war zone when a griffin scout found me heading north and tried to apprehend me. I killed him while he got me in several places, it was more luck than anything.” “Well it certainly seemed to be,” He said, “Ya nearly bled out.” “Where am I?” Luna asked him. “Ye are in Donladur, a city under the mountain.” “We’re underground?” Luna asked surprised. “Yes,” He awnsered. “What did you plan on doing up north when you escaped the griffins.” “Recover, devise a plan to get my sister out of their prison and get her and myself to a friendly nation in hopes that they might help.” “Well the only thing ye can do now is stay here and recover. Ye may as well stay here, it seems that the griffins will be lookin for ya and it seems that stayin with us is yer best option.” “For now at least,” Luna said, “and thank you again.” “Your welcome. Ye should be up and walkin around if a few days.” He heard a deep horn sound and said, “I need to get back to work, I will speak with you when I come home. Until then get some rest, ya need it.” So Shade turned and left the house again and left Luna to her thoughts. She noticed that these ponies seemed to value clothing, she should leave the clothes that had been put on her on. She also thought she should hide her wings, she would prefer her horn be hidden but the wings were easier. Luna closed her eyes and decided to try for sleep, she had just charged the moon with enough magic to raise and lower itself for a few weeks so she didn’t need to worry much. She drifted into sleep, curious about Shades culture.
Knowledge and a chanceLuna woke to the sound of a fire crackling and looked to see Shade cooking over a woodstove. He looked at her and smiled gently. “I just got back and you’re already awake.” He said. “I’m a light sleeper.” She said sitting up. “Don’t move too fast,” He said, “Those injuries were only patched up this morning.” Luna moved slowly but deliberately when she rose from the bed. She walked over to him on shaky legs and sat next to the fire. Shade looked at her and saw the confused expression on her face. “You have questions.” He said to her. “Yes.” She replied. “Well ask them.” “I wish to know of your culture, formalities, traditions, laws, and expectations.” “Why?” “Because it looks as though I will be here for a while and the more I know the less trouble I will get in. At least in this case.” “Reasonable. We are mostly miners, blacksmiths, armorers, bladesmiths and masons in the lower class. Which is where you find yourself. The middle class is mostly soldiers and warriors from lowest rank to the middle ones. The upper class are the higher military ranks, engineers, alchemists, mages, scientists and royals. I am a bladesmith and armorer so I have a small amount of combat training if ever I am called for duty. The lower class can be called for military service, and when the fifteen years of service are over they are allowed to retire, same case for those honorably discharged. The upper class is only half military, the engineers and architects aren’t sent off to war as they are important for the city itself. The alchemists and scientists are the same case. The mages however can be sent off to war, if they can cast combat spells they are put on the fifth line back, typically behind a phalanx with archers behind them. If they are better at healing magic then combat or illusion magic they are dispatched as field medics if they are good at patch jobs, the more specialized are in the camp and take care of the more critically injured.” “So your culture is more about hard work of the body than anything.” “Not quite, our scientists are pretty much the same thing as alchemists except they are less taboo. They search for logical reasoning and new cures for diseases while alchemists are more traditional and simply look in one of their books for the cure to the ailment. In other words, the scientists study the ailment while the alchemists actually do something about it.” “I see,” Luna said while making sure to remember all of this. “In the case of formalities there aren’t many, at least not where you will be. Just try not to be offensive to anyone, they dont take insults lightly and will likely try to do you harm. There may however be an exception to this as you are new here and they will likely understand. Now what to expect here, we may be far north and underground but you will find that it is very hot here. There are three entire levels dedicated to forges alone, there are vents to take the smoke out so you wont have to worry about choking on the air you breathe. Also, dont be surprised if you hear voices echoing across the city, we are a very musical people, it isn’t uncommon for three different levels to be joined in the same song, in fact there have been several occasions when all sixty eight of them were joined in song.” “S-sixty eight?” “Well, the sixty eight that are always occupied. We have nine more dedicated to storage.” Luna remained silent, to shocked to speak. Luna snapped back to reality, “I would like to pull my weight around here once I have recovered enough to work. I will be stuck here for a while and there is nothing I hate more than being idle and useless.” Shade thought for a moment, “I can teach you my craft, it will take a while to learn but it can be done.” “You would do that?” Luna asked hopefully. “Yes, I would. I would need to speak with the forgemaster but he is a nice enough pony, I have no doubt that he will agree with and support your education into the craft, he may just tutor you himself on some occasions. I will speak with him tomorrow and see what can be arranged.” “Thank you.” “Of course, I hope you’re up to it, it can be physically taxing.” “If it means I’m not dead weight then I will see it through to the end.” “That’s the spirit.” Shade then rose and got two bowls and filled them with red soup. He began eating with his spoon and Luna did the same. It tasted of beets and onions with several other herbs mixed in. She liked it. “What kind of soup is this?” Luna asked. “It’s called, borscht. It is a common dish here, and the taste is so great that even the royals enjoy it despite how cheap it is to make it.” “Hmm,” Luna said nodding before returning to her bowl of food. They ate in silence for a few more minutes. Then Shade decided to ask a few questions of his own. “Who are the griffins? I have heard of them but I have never seen a griffin before and there are none in our kingdom.” He asked. “The griffins are a violent and greedy race, they are half lion and half eagle giving them a natural edge in a fight. They tend to eat fish but they can eat tougher meats just as easily. They set their sights on equestria when their own homeland became too barren, they were in a severe drought and simply decided to invade as tensions between us and them were already strained.” “Alright, what are ye exactly. You have the horn of a unicorn and the wings of a pegasus, I have never heard of such a thing.” “I am what would be called an alicorn. There are only four of us in existence that I know of, myself included. But please keep it between us, I dont want to draw a lot of attention.” Luna said. “I will keep your wings a secret,” He said after some thought. “Thank you,” Luna said again, she didn’t know how many times she would say that to him during her stay.
The ForgeLuna had been in Donladur for a full week and had recovered enough that she was now able to be taught how to forge a blade, which would be her profession until there was a chance she could get Celestia, Twilight and the rest of them out of the dungeons of canterlot. She was eager to learn and Shade actually began instructing her during the last three days of the previous week, she had listened carefully and already knew how to handle a forge with relatively good efficiency. Now she just needed to learn how to shape metal and temper it properly, as well as experience. So Luna followed Shade down a large chamber with furnaces almost as big as the throne room of canterlot spread for miles in every direction. Luna was already sweating up a storm and she hadn’t even started working yet. Shade approached a stallion slightly bigger than he was who was waiting by an unoccupied forgespace. Luna could already hear the heavy ring of hammers striking hot metal. “Hello Shade,” The stallion said, “and this is the mare you said you wished to teach if I am not mistaken.” “Ye are right forgemaster, this mare wishes to learn the craft of a bladesmith and you said that I may teach her.” “I did,” the forgemaster said, “I would however like to see how much she already knows. I want to make sure that I know what to expect from her and that I wont be disappointed.” “I dont think you will be,” Shade said. “What is your name?” The forgemaster asked her. “Luna,” she told him. “Well Luna, light the furnace and lets see what you know.” Luna lit the fire in the furnace and did a decent job of keeping it at the right temperature. The forgemaster nodded impressed, perhaps she wouldn’t be in training as long as he had first thought. Luna tended to the furnace for a few more minutes and made sure there was a sufficient fuel supply then turned to the forgemaster to gauge his reaction. “Go on.” He said. “That is all I know how to do so far sir.” Luna told him. “Well there is no harm in that. As long as you can learn. Take the rod of metal from the stack next to the anvil and heat it in the furnace. When it glows red take it to the anvil and flatten it into a blade and tang, me and Shade will guide you as needed.” Luna found the stack of six steel rods and took one. It was about two inches in diameter which would make it three inches wide and three fourths of an inch thick if formed properly. She stuck it into the fire of the furnace with enough of the rod sticking out at her that she could grab it with her hoof without burning herself, because it would be difficult to strike the rod hard enough for it to count while gripping it with tongs. While she waited for the metal to heat up she grabbed the heaviest of the hammers for the rough shaping of the blade, she would use the two smaller hammers when more fine shaping was done. Luna waited for the rod to heat up enough to begin shaping it into a blade. When the rod glowed red she pulled it from the furnace and placed the hot end on the anvil and began to strike the metal. She hammered away at it until it was three fourths inches thick and then she began to form the tip, she made the tip rounded into a point to make more of a hacking weapon than a stabbing one but to make stabbing still effective. She put the rod back in the fire as it was to cool for any effective shaping to be done then switched out the large hammer for the medium one. Luna pulled out the new blade then bagan to strike it at two different angles to make the angle of the blade. The sword would be double edged so she made an very acute peak on each edge and a very obtuse peak on each side to make an acceptable blade shape. Then she put the rod back in the furnace and grabbed the small hammer to smooth over the surface of the blade. She waited a few seconds then pulled the rod out and began lightly striking the surface and smoothing it over, refining the surface of the blade. The forgemaster observed the newest bladesmith impressed by her skill. All in all she made a few mistakes, but that was to be expected. But he had expected her to make more mistakes than she had. Luna then took the tongs and grabbed the now cool base of the blade and stuck the other end in the fire and seized the large hammer. She would start working on the tang. When the back of the rod was hot enough she pulled it out and began hammering it into shape. She flattened the back end and thinned it out to an inch and a half wide but three fourths of an inch thick. When the tang was finished Luna thrust the now made sword into the fire and held it there watching the tip for the right hardening color. When she saw the color on the tip she yanked the sword from the furnace and thrust it into the barrel of water. It entered with a satisfying hiss and steam rose from the barrel. Luna pulled the now glistening blade from the water and set it gently on the anvil so that the forgemaster and Shade could inspect it. Shade approached the sword first and looked it over carefully. There were a few subtle dents in the blade from the hammer but that was nothing to worry much about. It looked strong and well made. Luna felt dread grip her as Shade looked over her blade with a critical eye. He looked at her and smiled. “You impress me Luna,” He said, “You made a couple mistakes but most in your position make three times as many. The sword is well made and looks durable. You did well.”
ArmorThree weeks had passed since Luna was tested on her skill with a hammer. She had grown in skill since then and was already working a forge on her own, she still required advice from time to time and got a couple things wrong every now and then, but she was good enough and improving daily. She continued to pound the hot metal in rhythm with the others she heard around her. The other blacksmiths were singing as they went. The song was deep and rumbly, so against anything Luna could produce as a note so she listened. It set her into a rhythm of work and made it go a lot smoother. She had already forged eighteen swords that morning and was going to work without a break until lunch which was provided to the workers. She continued to strike, heat, strike, heat, shape, harden and repeat the process with the next steel rod. Luna was beginning to enjoy the life of a bladesmith, simple. She didn’t miss the life she had as a princess, but she did miss her sister. Luna thought as she worked, she had gotten good at that. How would she get her sister and the others out? She didn’t have an army. She couldn’t expose herself because she didn’t know how the ponies of Donladur would react. She couldn’t speak with the king as her class was not worthy to so much as look at him, at least thats what the guards said to her. And she couldn’t do it herself because she had no backup and it would arouse suspicion. Luna continued to try and formulate a plan while working, she turned the blade over and began to shape that side. She looked up and saw Shade approaching her. She smiled at him and nodded in greeting. “You’re doing well I see,” He said. “That I am,” Luna said, “You have really helped me out with teaching me these methods.” “My thanks,” He said. “I am the one who should be thanking you.” “You’ve done enough of that already. I wanted to ask you something.” “Go ahead, if I can help you it would be the least I could do.” “I wanted to know if you would like to accompany me and some of the boys on a scouting mission.” Luna paused, “But what about my work here?” “Scouting missions will replace a days work, you will still have a job here but you will be scouting out the countryside for any problems for a few days.” “So I dont need to worry?” “No, you needn’t worry about a thing.” “Well then, I would be delighted. How do scouting missions work exactly?” “Well first, we need to get you some armor.” “I thought only soldiers get armor.” “Only they get the plate and mail armor. We can get fur, leather and maybe some light mail if we can afford it. Come lets get you outfitted.” “Now?” “Yes, I have already spoken with the forgemaster, he has agreed to this. This happens every time a newbie gets called for a scouting mission so this isn’t uncommon.” “Ok, what do I do with what I’m working on now?” “Well, you’ve been working on it the entire time we’ve been talking and now it only needs to be hardened.” Luna looked at the blade she held in the fire, he was right. She had been working on it without even realizing she was. She saw the right hardening color on the tip then quickly thrust the blade into the water and let it cool. Then she set the blade next to the others she had completed. That was twenty nine swords that day. Luna then put the hammer down and put out the furnace fire. Then turned to follow Shade. He lead her down the rows of forges and up a couple staircases that lead to a small stone room, not that there was any other material in the city that rooms were made of. On the walls were a number of sets of armor, all of them were leather and fur. There in the middle of the room was a tanning rack and workbench with a unicorn mare working on making another set of armor. She looked up to see Shade and her come in. “Hello,” She said smiling, “Who needs a new set of armor?” “This, is Luna. She is going on her first scouting mission tomorrow and needs a set of armor.” The mare approached Luna and began circling her sizing her up. She took a few measurements and then left the room via a door in the back. She came back with a set of fur armor. She gave them to Luna and instructed her to put them on. Luna first strapped on the leather breastplate and shoulder guards. All of it was hardened leather with softer leather padding inside, it hugged her figure tightly and would provide relatively good protection. Next she put on the fur war skirt, it only reached to half of the way down her back legs but it could stop a sword or claw. Then she put on the boots and bracers, both made of fur on the inside and thick layer of leather on the outside. They were held in place by leather straps that were wrapped around the entire thing then laced in and tied. There was no helmet. She heard Shade take a silent and barely audible intake of breath. She turned to see him staring. “What?” She asked. “I never thought that I would ever find a mare attractive in armor.” Luna blushed slightly at the compliment, then remembered her long mane. “Could I have a short strand,” Luna asked the mare. “Of what?” She asked. “It doesn’t really matter.” Luna was given a short strip of leather, and used it to tie her mane back. “So it doesn’t get in the way?” Shade asked. “So it doesn’t get in the way.” Luna confirmed. Shade looked Luna over, to say breathtaking would make the royal tailors and stylists to blow their blood vessels in anger at the understatement. Shade tried to find word for it but his brain short circuited at the sight of the mare before him. Beautiful, just beautiful. “Hello?” Luna said a little worried. “Hmm?” He asked being snapped out of it, “Oh sorry. Lost in thought.” Luna nodded. “You know the way back to the house dont you?” He asked. “I do.” “Well please go and wait there, I have some business to finish.” Luna nodded, “Should I take the armor off.” “No dear,” The mare said, “It’s fine.” Luna nodded then turned to leave. Once she was gone the mare elbowed Shade in the ribs. “Smooth,” She said chuckling. “Oh shut up Cats Hide.” “You like her dont you?” Hide said teasingly. “I...” “There is no point in lying and you wont have to worry about her hearing this. Just be honest.” “Ah... Yes, I suppose I do.” “Well she’s quite the catch so dont let her go.” Hide told him. “Tell her if you want this to be a healthy relationship, the least she can say is no.” “I suppose you’re right. But now isn’t the time, she is already nervous about the scouting round, she doesn’t need something like that weighing on her mind.” A sad excuse but the best he had. “Just dont wait too long. Or someone else will ask her, and soon.” “Oh how do you know.” “Have you seen her?” Shade hesitated for a minute, “Fair point.”
EscapeCanterlot Dungeons Celestia hid above the door to the cell that held her for weeks. She was waiting for a griffin to come in and check to see if she was hiding. She didn’t need to wait long. She heard the door open and quickly swung to kick the unfortunate griffin in the beak, knocking him out cold. She approached the unconscious griffin and took the keys from him. From there she went down the cell block and found the cells holding Twilight and the rest of them. Celestia approached the first cell and unlocked it, which drew their attention. The pony inside was rainbow dash, she looked up and found Celestia standing in the doorway. She got up from her sitting position in surprise. “Princess?” She asked quietly. “Just Celestia.” She said, “We’re getting out of here. Watch the hall and warn me if any griffins head this way.” “Yes Princess.” “Just Celestia,” She said, “I’m no princess, not anymore.” Rainbow went to watch the hallway while Celestia went to the other cells to get the rest out. The next cell had Fluttershy, who was quietly crying in the corner. She looked up to see the door open and peeked out to see Celestia opening the others. Twilight and her friends were the only ones down there besides Celestia, the guards were killed in the assault. Celestia soon had the rest of them out of their cells and they came up behind rainbow. “All clear.” Rainbow whispered. So the group sneaked through the halls of the lower castle and exited through a side door. They made their way across the gardens before they heard the alarm bell. “Twilight, Rarity,” Celestia said, “Teleport yourselves and pinkie and applejack to the northern base of the mountain and wait for us there, I will teleport myself and Fluttershy as well as Rainbow dash.” They emmediately obeyed, Twilight teleported AJ and Rarity teleported Pinkie. When those four were gone Celestia charged up her own teleportation spell and teleported the three remaining ponies to the northern base of the mountain where the rest were waiting. Celestia did a headcount, all of them were there. “What happened to Spike?” Celestia asked Twilight. “He fled south to the dragon kingdom, he is safe.” Twilight assured her. Celestia sighed thankful that they may have some allies. “What about Princess Luna?” Twilight asked. “I dont know.” Celestia said, “She fled north, but the yaks aren’t the freindliest to a pony who needs help. I cant help but worry.” “Well lets go after her,” Rainbow said, “If spike is safe for sure then we had best look for a sign of your sister. Make sure she’s okay before anything else.” The rest nodded in agreement. So they began to walk north, only moving by night, which was a sign that Luna was doing well enough to raise the moon every night. Celestia had begun with the sun again which would serve as a clue to say that Celestia had escaped. They traveled north until they reached the mountains, where a small group of griffins found them. “Come quietly,” The seargent told them, “and no punishment will be issued.” Celestia responded by impaling him with her horn before blasting his still impaled body with magic. The group of now four griffins attacked her, only to be interrupted by either magic or a punch. Twilight and Rarity fired magic beams at two griffins with leathal intent while the other two were knocked back by AJ and RB. RB had flown fast enough to reduce the griffins beack to shards of bone, and AJ had only hit hard enough to cause unconsciousness. From there the group fled into the mountains and farther north. Much to their dismay, they weren’t near as resistant to cold weather as Luna was so they quickly passed out from hypothermia. Celestia woke with a blanket and clothes on her. She thought it strange that clothes were needed for an equine, but they kept her warm. Celestia opened her eyes to see she was in a bedroll alongside the other six, a few feet away was a group of lightly armored ponies around a fire. There were six of them, all of them male and all wearing nearly identical looking sets of armor. Celestia tried sitting up to get a better look at them but felt a hoof gently push her down. “Not so quickly, you’re still recovering.” Celestias eyes widened, she knew that voice. She looked to her right to see Luna, in a set of fur and leather armor with a sword at her hip, sitting there. “How are you feeling?” Luna asked quietly. Celestia opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out. “Confused?” Luna asked. Celestia nodded. “I will explain everything later. But please don’t address me as “Sister” or hint that you are in any way familiar with me when you speak with the others.” Celestia was confused but nodded in understanding, her sister always had a reason for doing things. One of the stallions from the campfire, a grey batpony, looked at them and called to Luna. “One of them awake?” He asked. “Yes Shade, this one woke up not a minute ago.” Luna said. The batpony called Shade got up and moved over to sit next to Luna and check on Celestia. He put a hoof on her forehead. “She’s still a bit cold.” Shade said quietly. “What’s your name?” “Celestia.” She awnsered. “We found you down south. Unconscious and in a state of hypothermia. Can you tell me how you came here?” “Yes, my friends and I were fleeing from the griffins who have just recently taken over the nation we call home.” Shade took a sideways glance at Luna, he had heard this before. “So it really has happened.” “You didn’t believe me?” Luna asked. “It’s not that I didn’t believe you. It’s that I wasn’t absolutely certain. You were still a stranger to me at the time.” Luna snorted. Shade returned to the campfire and Luna remained there to tend to the ponies.
PatienceLuna stood haunched over the anvil of her workstation, she was slightly more distracted than normal. She had been this way ever since they had found Celestia and the others two days prior. They had recovered from their hypothermia by then and Luna was expecting to be visited. And visited she was. Celestia came down as she was hammering away at another sword. Luna didn’t hear her come up behind her, her ears were to filled with the sound of ringing metal. She shoved the blade back into the furnace and turned suddenly to see Celestia not five feet from her. She was grateful that she no longer had the rod of steel in her grip, she would have dropped it from fright otherwise. “Please, dont do that while I’m working with steel.” Luna said. “I’d have to restart completely if I drop it.” “Sorry.” She said. “I came to see you.” “And ask questions I gather.” Luna responded. “Now is probably a good time. No one is like to be listening.” “Indeed.” Celestia said glumly. “How did you get here? And why are you here doing this?” “Simple enough.” Luna said pulling the steel from the furnace. She set the blade on the anvil and began shaping it once more. “I got here because the stallion Shade found me. I was unconscious due to blood loss and he brought me to his home, patched me up, and taught me his trade. I didn’t know how long I would be here or even if these ponies were friendly to equestria. So I decided I would need a good base to start in case it took a while. I had planned to make sure I had a place to go to before I attempted a rescue.” “Well, that worked out well.” Celestia said. “You have a job, a home... and a cute stallion.” Luna fumbled as she went to put the rod in the water. A blush covered her muzzle and she just barely managed to get the steel doused right. She glared at Celestia, who had a very large grin on her face. “So you do find him attractive.” Celestia teased giggling. “S-shut up!” Luna said, unable to hide her blush, that now covered her neck too. “And don’t be so familiar with me while in public. We still don’t know if their friendly to equestrians. And I just now earned their trust, I don’t want to loose it.” “Alright, I wont tease you about it, for now.” Celestia mused. “What is the plan from here?” “Well, the plan I had in place just went out the window.” Luna said. “I hadn’t counted on you and the others escaping.” “I’ll be speaking of king soon.” Celestia told her. “The amount of foreigners found in the mountains have caught his attention. He knows who I am and he is going to meet with me, in your coltfriends house no less.” “He’s not my coltfriend!!!” Luna nearly shouted striking the metal she was shaping a little harder than normal. “Alright, alright, dont get angry.” Celestia said. “I’ll see you then.” Celestia left Luna to her work, and leaving her blushing. Luna was thankful that she could blame it on the heat of the furnace. She kept up her work, listening to the song the workers voices were raised in. She struck the hot metal in rhythm to the song. This kept up until it came night and the next group of workers were up. Luna left her forge and returned to Shade’s home, where she found him preparing dinner. “Hello Luna,” he said looking up, “are ye alright?” “Yes, why do you ask?” Luna replied confused. “You look flushed.” He explained standing up, “ye ‘ave never come back like this.” “No, its nothing.” She assured, getting redder. “Is something on your mind?” He questioned further, he knew her better than she thought. “No,” she said slightly panicking, she knew he was onto her. “What is it?” He said bluntly. “I know somethings bothering ye. What is it? Spit it out.” “I... I dont think it’s something you need to worry yourself over.” “Tell me.” Luna sighed, and half-lied half told-the-truth. “I heard the king was coming here to meet with one of the mares we found. I never thought I would ever see him much less be in the same building. You know better than I do how important he is.” “Indeed. That is something to think about. But not something to worry about. He will be here to talk with someone, and that someone isn’t one either us. We likely wont even be around for most of it. So calm down.” He assured her, he knew this wasn’t what was bothering her because of the blush on her face, but he knew that he shouldn’t press it. “I had agreed to meet up with some friends at the bar. I should be going.” “Alright, have fun. I should be getting to bed.” She told him. “Good night then Luna.” Shade sat at the bar, alone. He hadn’t decided to meet with friends as he said he did. In fact he was trying to avoid them as best he could. One of them came by his workplace that day and interrogated him on his relationship with Luna. He hadn’t given him any straight answers, but he didn’t have to, this particular friend was an expert at exposing what is really going on with someone. He got Shade to step into every trap he set, and got all of the details from him without ever really getting him to cooperate. Shade hated this about this particular stallion, Close Observer as his name was, and a fitting name it was. It was about this time that this exact pony showed up at Shade’s table beer in hoof. “Hello Shade, any luck with your marefriend?” “For the last time she isn’t my marefriend.” Shade almost growled. “She auta be.” Close retorted. “It’s clear to everyone that you like her, and that she likes you. There’s no use denying it, just go up and ask her.” “Not going to happen.” Shade replied. “For one thing, I dont like her as anything more than a friend. And two, even if I did like her more than that, she wouldn’t share those feelings.” “Bollucks and you know it!” Close exclaimed, “ye saw it yourself. Now go and ask her!” “Fine! I’ll ask her, but if she says no you won’t be upset if I shove it in your face.”
AwkwardShade had just about killed himself the next day when he was working the forge. His own forgemaster came by to tease and interrogate him about Luna. It wasn't intentional, he only lost control of the rod of hot metal and nearly stumbled into the furnace. For the first time in his life, he glared at his forgemaster with something very close to hate. "So how goes it with the newbie?" The forgemaster asked. Shade glared at him with malice, "It isn't, nor will it." "Why not?" The forgemaster asked. "Why would it?" he countered. "Because, you both want it." he said with mock hesitation. "lets find out. She's coming by right now, on her way to drop off her next bundle of weapons. Now get out there and ask her." "In any other case I would listen to you, but when it comes to this kind of thing, no!" he says. He got no further, Luna came down the walkway on her way to the armory with a large bundle of newly made weapons on her back. Before he could react, Shade was literally shoved out into the walkway and almost into Luna. Luna, thankfully, saw all of this. She just smiled at him, seeing the large blush on his face, and with a small blush on her own. She continued to walk, and gave him his own bundle of produced weapons. "Walk with me." she said. He didn't say anything, he just took his own bundle over his shoulder and followed her. "What was he bothering you about?" She asked him when he was out of earshot. "Oh... uh... nothing important." he says in response, desperate to hide his embarrassment. "I'm sure." she says, obviously not convinced. "I'm still curious, what was he talking to you about that caught you so off guard that you nearly stumbled into the furnace?" "Just something I didn't expect, you shouldn't worry about it." he tells her. "I'm not worried." she pressed, certain he was hiding something now. "Tell me." "I..." he couldn't say any more, he cast a glance back to see the forgemaster grinning in his direction. "He and some of my friends have been pressuring me to do something. It isn't bad and they mean well, I just don't really want to do it. They think it would be good for me, it just isn't a priority for me right now." "Mmm." she says. "How interesting." "Why. Why is that interesting?" "Others have been doing pretty much the same thing." She explains. "Saying that I need to approach someone. Any advice on how to get them to leave me alone about that?" "I haven't been very successful about that myself." He chuckles. Inwardly he was frightened. They're after her about it too!? Well this just keeps getting better! Luna looked about to make sure that they were alone, they had left the forges and were now in a narrow hallway that would take them to the armory to drop off the weapons they had produced. "What were they pressuring you for?" She asked in a slightly lowered voice. He knew he wouldn't get out of this, so he took a deep breath, said his prayers, and told her. "They've been pressuring me to ask you out." This caught Luna off guard. Was the world after her?! When will this end?! A blush was very clearly seen on her muzzle, as there was on his. She couldn't say anything, she just stared in shock. After she recovered she inquired. "Why have they?" "I don't know." he admits. "And why don't you?" She asks. "I just never thought to, and when they brought it up the concept scared me." He tells her. "I've grown so used to the same routine, get up, go to the forge, work on weapons and armor, eat, go back to work, come home, eat, sleep. The only real breaks in this is the occasional visit to the tavern or when I'm called for scouting duty, and such a major change just frightened me beyond anything I have ever felt." "I see." She said, not able to help but feel a little disappointed. "So... will you?" He asks sheepishly. Smiling she hugged him. "Of course! How could I say no?"
