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                    Long Live the Queen                    
                       -by Bro Dash-                       
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                     A Hammer on Steel                     
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A Hammer on Steel
With each ring of the impacts of heavy hammer to the hard, darkened metal, Luna didn't flinch, didn't move, only stared blankly into the blacksmith's own forge.
Twas once a time when she would stop by here to spend time with an old love.
But that is long gone, the usual blacksmith out for the day, replaced by a hefty black stained white stallion who's mane hung short and bright. Blonde. All that which her old love was not.
Old love. That's what she calls it. Not once in the past two thousand years, even on the moon, had she forgotten his gentle hold on her, his caring sense, even the times they spent together. Not even as Nightmare Moon, had she ever once stopped think of him nightly...
To the night's end, I bare this armour, hoof crafted by ourself, as thy stallion, thy knight in glinting armour, to gallop and protect below the moonlight by which thou ruleth. We art thou steed, thine lover, and we shall never pass against our word.
The very phrase which had struck Luna's heart deep, making her swoon for the stallion near immediately. She had somepony that would willingly stay by her side through the night, and that they did. Many a moon had the two sat on Luna's own balcony, watching the stars, and moon.
"May I help you, princess?"
Luna looked at the white stallion. He had stopped hammering, the blade having been finished not a moment before.
"Oh, nothing.", Luna looked down, walking off to the castle.
The night sky was beautiful. The moon full, the stars, bright, and above that, there was a lovely swirl of colors in the background.
A wonderful night that would cheer up anypony who gazed up even once.
Luna would have none of it. Granted she had seen it very many times before, knew every centimeter of the nigth sky. But it only made the heavy ache in her heart hurt worse.
The trek to her own room was slow and boring. But she wasn't thinking of it, and passing by her sister's open bedroom door, the white alicorn was still awake.
Celestia spit out the mix of toothpaste and water into the sink, washing it down directly after with a quick surge of water, and opened the door to her personal bathroom just in time to see Luna walk past the door.
"Hmm..."
Celestia hurried to the door, and looked down the hall, seeing Luna not far away.
"Sister? Are you feeling well?"
"It's nothing important."
"Now, Luna, you know you shouldn't keep something from me."
"I can and will.", Luna snapped back at her sister.
"Luna..."
"What?", Luna said in a harsh tone.
Celestia sighed, then turned back into her room, "Nevermind."
Luna bit her lip, possibly having just thrown her only relief out the window.
"Tia, wait."
Celestia poked her head out of the doorway.
"Can we talk?"
Celestia smiled, "Sure, come on in."
Luna entered her sister's bed chamber and followed her sister to the bed, taking a seat on the cushioned stool across from it, head still aimed to the ground.
"What's wrong, Luna?"
Luna took a deep breath, then let it out.
"I am just..."
"Just sad? I can tell jsut by how you are thinking."
"Then, you know why?"
"The reason behind it, I have no idea of."
"I feel heart broken."
"Oh? Did he break up with you?"
"Oh...no..."
"So you broke up with him?"
"Not that either. It was a really long time ago."
"Oh. If you somehow met somepony in the moon, then my guess would be that this was before your imprisonment?"
"...Yes...I...Just could never let go. Every day I was imprisoned, every year, I never once forgot him. Many nights were passed with tears, and very few times did I sleep in my rage against you."
"Luna. It's still a good thing that you never dwelt upon hatred alone. In fact, that just eases me more. It was my fault, all of it. But sayign that makes me feel that much better, too."
Luna was silent.
Had Celestia said the wrong thing? Out of a time that Luna could use help, may have Celestia just said that which would make it even worse?
"Did...Did I...Get the wrong idea?"
"No, we were separated days before I was imprisoned."
"Oh.", Celestia let out a held breath.
"But...I don't know what to do. I don't want to forget him, but...it hurts so much. He is all that I can think of now..."
Celestia did not know how to respond. She herself had a crush in the past, but even hers didn't last as long as Luna's first love. Her and Discord. What a mess.
"Luna. Why don't you get some sleep. I'll take over for the night."
"...Thank you, sister."
Luna hopped down off the cushion and left the room, leaving Celestia alone. Celestia had managed the kingdom for two millenia on her own, day and night. What was one full shift compared to seven hundred hundred thousand?
Luna went straight to her bed, not even bothering to bathe and groom herself, as it seemed that doing so would take her mind off of him. She didn't want to stop thinking of him. Almost immediately upon laying her head on teh pillow, she was back to thinking.
Luna ran into the forge, eyes nearly red with rage as she gritted her teeth. The black alicorn working there only looked over to his brown superior and he nodded, quickly taking his place.
"Luna, what is bothering the?"
"Our sister, that is what bothers us."
"What is thine problem with thou sister?"
"Every day, every peasant gets to admire that ball of flame in the sky, and every night fall, every peasant that squabbles at our sister's feet just sleeps through the most beautiful masterpiece that we have bestowed upon them."
She lived through it again as she slowly drifted to sleep. The rage fueled argument, the march to the armory, and her lover, every step of the way, begging her to calm down. Luna was changing with every step, and upon putting the last piece of her regalia on, the cloud of star dust swirled around her, making her from a smaller, weaker body to a taller, much bigger, stronger version.
That was the last she saw her faithful lover. She walked out, not even looking back to see if he followed her. He knew he wouldn't. Not even he, who had sworn utmost loyalty to Luna, did not follow her into what would come.
It only made her wonder if he was still even alive, if he even remembered her, or if he was still even true to his word as hers alone.
"Luna...", Celestia's soft voice echoed in Luna's head.
"Mmm?", she grunted, not even opening her eyes.
"Come now Luna, it is morning. At least get up and roam the city, take a relaxing stroll through the glades, or even a relaxing trip to the spa."
Luna sighed, then got to her hooves, shaking herself. She stretched her legs out, then slowly stepped down from her bed.
Celestia was gone, having left the room already. A day at the spa, a casual stroll. None seemed fun to Luna, much less, relaxing.
"Well, I geuss I should at least take a stroll around Canterlot, I suppose, see what the day life is like for a change."
Quickly taking a bath, grooming her mane, and taking a few biscuits from a passing by butler, Luna was already headed out of the castle doors when she came to a halt, one biscuit in mouth, and the rest, floating above her.
"Twwllwww.", Luna said through the biscuit.
"Oh, hello princess Luna. You're up a bit early.", the purple unicorn responded.
Luna swallowed the bite, and moved the biscuit from her muzzle.
"Good day to you, too, Twilight. Are you here to stay again?"
"Yes, I have to study a bunch of flash bang spells for the fireworks show the day after tomorrow."
"Oh, well good luck to you."
Luna took another bite of the biscuit, trotting past the purple mare.
The city was very busy, nothing like the night time, when Luna took her casual strolls. very many ponies takign carriages, or walking on the sidewalks. Must be a busy day. Though, everypony parted way for Luna as she walked by without much of a word.
She had no real destination at first, but a small building with neon lights caught her attention. The connected letters were hard to read, but she didn't mind it, and walked in. the first room was dark, very dark. Turns out that there were actually windows, but they were spray painted over, black.
In the background, she could hear a repetitive, rhythmic low beat that she could almost feel. Trotting to the next door, it opened on it's own, and the music assaulted the princess like an entire brigade.
Though she didn't react much more than stare at the writhing crowd before turning around and leaving.
The street chatter seemed a bit harder to hear for a minute afterwards, but Luna didn't mind. Sitting in pure silence was bliss to her.
Another small building caught her sight, and she went for it.
The entire morning, Luna didn't speak, nor acknowledge anypony that she passed. In fact, she didn't even spend more than a minute in each building that caught her eye. It was as if she were searching for somepony. When she had made a loop back to the castle, she sighed, then ran back into the large gates, and into the castle courtyard, all the way up until she got to the door. As she reached a hoof out, a familiar ring from the blacksmith caught her attention, this time, an idea striking in her mind. What if he still worked there? But during the day?
She turned, and not able to see who was working the forge from her spot, she walked closer. Every step she knew that she was wrong, but...she wanted to believe that there was still a chance that he was there.
As she finally saw the hooves of the smith, she stopped, and turned, only for somepony to stop her.
"Princess Luna."
She turned back around to the white stallion, and he thrust the blade into the barrel of water, a loud hiss coming from the hot metal.
"Is there something you need?", he asked.
"Oh, no."
"Well, I see you here every night."
"Well...Maybe you can help me..."
"Metal and hammer in hoof, what can I do for the princess?"
"Uhm...hmm...have you ever seen, or heard of a black alicorn ever working at this particular forge?"
"Well, I've not seen him, but heard of him. He quit working here over fourteen centuries ago. Last I heard. It's only been earth ponies here afterward. I heard his work was legendary. Black, shining steel. Nopony else could make armor and weapons quite like he. Stallion was a prodigy."
"Do you know where he went?"
"Sorry, but no. Last anyone even saw him, he had packed his things, and left, going Celestia knows where."
"Oh..."
"Sorry if I have displeased you."
"No, no. It's not your fault. It is mine..."
"Well, don't feel so bad about yourself. Until I see you actually do something that was your fault, you've done nothing wrong. Just go where you feel you should go, do what you feel you should do."
Luna thought quickly on this, and then nodded to the stallion, even gave a smile.
A smile. When was the last time she smiled?

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                  Magic Hyper Ring Relay                   
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Magic Hyper Ring Relay
Black steel. Not only was it his signature material metal, but it was his name. Black coat, dark gery mane and tail, strong build. And above that, the only black alicorn to ever be a blacksmith.
He was every shade of the metal all in one, hence his name. But what made his name true to the strong metal was his work.
He always made the best black steel, no questions asked, no rivals. Granted, a few stallions, and even a mare did challenge him in his own skill.
And every one failed.
Unmatchable as both a crafter of armor and weaponry, he didn't go by without selling something here and there. Most were for show, and some, for actual use.
Every ring he made upon each metal sheet and every metal ingot, he kept to a perfect rhythm. And his current project, a chestplate and grieves, were his main thought now. Every dent he made was soon smoothed with another, as every other hit was infused with magic. Working metal both physically and magically.
He was a blacksmith in his prime, and never once doubted in any way for his reliability. Twenty blades in a day? He worked two anvils at once, and had them finished by half the day.
"Black Steel?", A stallion pegasus dropped from above, landing heavily on the tarmac.
"Yes...", steel kept his gaze upon the steel he was working.
"So you admit to being the Black steel I am looking for?"
He smiled.
"Black Steel, best blacksmithing stallion in Equestria, blades and armor of any metal in time less than required."
"Then you wouldn't mind forging your coat of arms again?"
He slammed the hammer down hard, the dent deeper than should be.
"What?!", he looked up.
This stallion was tall, pure white, had a horn, wings, and above all, which gave his identity all away, was his armor.
Shined, golden brass, the royal seal emblazoned on the cuirass.
"You...You're a royal guard, what is a royal guard doing on the other side of Equestria?"
"That's where you are wrong sir. There are royal guard throughout Equestria. I need you to forge me your coat of arms."
"Why do you want me to forge my coat of arms?"
"Because I have been told you are no longer loyal to Princess Celestia, and you'd never forge a coat of arms in her favor."
"I...You...It's..."
"So forge me your coat of arms for Luna."
Was this stallion toying with him? He had to be, as Black Steel could barely even think much right now, the heat of the breastplate digging deeper into his hoof, having slid off the holder he had pressed down, after the first mentioning of the Coat of Arms.
"...Are you Toying with me?"
"So you are not loyal to Luna either?", the stallion asked, expression not changing a single bit.
"I...Am..."
"Then Forge the coat of arms. For Luna."
Black steel looked at the stallion, his head bobbing slightly as he shifted on his hooves.
"Alright."
Steel flipped the armor he was holding over, hitting it once, a purple ripple ripping through the metal and finishing it in that instance. He set it aside, his hoof finally cooling.
After years of working with metal, his hooves had hardened, becoming the equivalent to iron horseshoes. Holding a red hot piece of metal was nothing to him, even after it had sat in his hoof for a minute.
He pulled a piece of iron from the scrap pile, and pulled a black ingot from the stack, setting it into the smelter. After a minute, he tipped the boiler, pouring the molten metal into the rectangular box that shapped an ingot, then let it cool, taking the bar from it's place, and setting it into a pail of water. The steam rose as it heated the water quickly to a cooler state. He took it out, then using magic, and a thick metal blade, he cut it in half down the middle, then made two more halves, making two thick sheets of metal.
He set that in the pit, letting it heat up for a few minutes, then picked it out with magic, setting it on the anvil.
Picking up the hammer, he twirled it, the streak of dark metal having a purple magic coloration. Slamming the hammer down, the metal sparked as the hit rippled from the center, shaping the coat of arms in seconds.
"Style, speed, and magic, all in one."
Steel levitated the coat of arms into the pail, and pulled it out directly after, setting it in the pit again. A minute later, he pulled it out, then set it in the pail, letting it sizzle till it stopped, having cooled as much as it could in the otherwise warm water.
Pulling it out then, the black steel had taken on the signature dark greyish coloration that Black Steel himself was famous for.
Not to mention the shine, and the mirror -like surface on every bump, and every stud, including the back. It did not curl, and was completely flat, thick as well. It even had a hook that made it possible to wear like a badge.
"You don't have one pre-made?"
"I...lost it long...Just didn't really have the mind to make another since she was banished..."
He pulled another plate of unprocessed armor out of the pit, and set the finished chestplate in the barrel of water. He began to continue his work.
"How often does news come through here? Gossip, newspaper, letter?"
"No postal office. anypony who lives in this harsh, dry, hot weather of southern Equestria lives alone, or with their entire, dwindling, pitiful family.", Steel said bitterly.
"So you do not get news of even the greatest events. Then I am very happy to inform you that Luna has been released from her imprisonment, two months ago, during the Summer Sun Festival."
He brought the hammer down once more, the metal shaping as quickly as the chestplate did in it's single hit, and the scrap metal, and other unfinished metal, even ingots, turned into various armor and weapons, as the purple ripple of magic burst from off the metal.
"I take it that astonishes you more than I did earlier.", the stallion said, turning his head slightly and putting a hoof to his chin.
"Y...you mean..."
"Yes. Luna is back."
"But...is she still..."
"No. Her rage is over. Many a night she weeps in her loneliness, she no longer takes her nightly flights, and visits the blacksmith just outside of the castle nightly, ever since a week after her release."
Black Steel was speechless.
"Now.", the guard cleared his throat, straightening his posture, "Have you, sir, ever ridden upon a magic hyper ring relay?"
The HRR was how I originally got here, yes."
"Then you, sir are allowed the privilege to fly once more on an express trip straight from this small settlement exactly, to Canterlot Castle's own front yard."
"I..."
"You have a choice to bring anything with you now, or we will carry your stuff for you. Princess Luna, herself, requested this happen, and that you get here before night fall whence you have been located."
Steel smiled, then usign magic, rearranged the entire forge as it should look once cleaned of the various creations, each all in a location to fit it's value, color, or size.
"I take it you wish to leave now?"
"...This is by the Princess Luna's request, is it not?"
"Yes."
"Then I am to obey she who I am loyal most to."
"Then we can leave immediately."
"Good. the only thing I wish to take is my coat of arms, and make it known to those here that they can sell and use anything here as they please!"
He levitated the coat of arms to himself, attaching it to the pitch black smooth metal collar which hung around his neck, and hurried into the blazing sunlight.
"Where are we going?", he asked, stopping next to the stallion.
The guard looked up, two blue rings held in the sky by two guards like he.
"Thou, sire, hath been granted our greatest thanks. I will never forget the ne stallion who has brought me news of the return of Luna."
the stallion nodded with a smile.
Black Steel leaped up, and spread his wings, flapping his wings wildly till he was level with the magic rings, and backwinged to give him some distance.
There were two, and several linked him in the major cities of Equestria. They were mainly used for Equestrian male delivery.
And he had a straight shot all the way to Canterlot castle.
He bolted forward, the first ring passing through him, and accelerating him. The sonic boom let off then and there was suppressed by magic, and he continued on, a black streak in the sky, flying at mach two.
Luna monitored the progress on the rings the entire day, having eaten only once, and it was still getting late. She would have to soon take over for the night, and pull a 24-Hr waking session to reset her internal sleeping clock.
Waking sessions are the time when you wake up in the morning, till after you drink a cup of coffee, and feel wide awake.
Except, in Luna's case, she would be half asleep for twelve hours, until morning.
Her horn glowed, resonating her horn with the hyper rings, and waited, ignoring the static feedback, she found many stray ponies being rejected entry by guards, activity that she tried to ignore, but then something else entered the stream. Alicorn...black...stallion...
She could only read the physical look of a pony, and being over two thousand years old, her memory of ponies that long ago is like looking at a color, if at all.
Though, he was approaching fast, having started from the boarder of Equestria in a remote village who's name Luna hadn't even known. Not even pony related, like Manehatten, or Las Pegasus. It was actually Red Rust Lake Bed.
She returned her focus to the stallion who was haflway there, not even believing the ease of how this could have been. Finding a pony within all of Equestria, one exact pony upon a sea of quadrillians of ponies, all fo which lived in Equestria alone, and still had over half the kingdom unexplored.
An amazing find, nonetheless.
He was approaching Canterlot now, only seven rings left...
Six. He hit Manehatten.
Five. He hit Las Pegasus.
Four. He hit Trottingham.
Three. He hit Appleloosa.
Two. Cloudsdale.
Her heart was thudding.
One. Ponyville.
An array of arcing bolts of high magical content swarmed the exit of the last ring, preparing for a slowing exit. Not even a second later, a huge explosion rang forth, made from a sonic boom, mixed with the ponie's colors. Black that streaked into grey, and faded to nothing.
Black Steel stood not far into the Canterlot Castle front yard, flaming streaks from where he was jettisoned from the moved hyper ring which had brought mail to and from Canterlot for a hundred years by pegasus and alicorn.
At first, he panted heavily, having forced his speed to mach twelve three times, slowing only twice to take hard turns.
Completely out of breath, he slowly took deep breaths, and eventually caught his breath, then looked straight forward. The doors to the Castle were shut at that moment, but not for long. Cracking open, they creaked as they were forced open for the first time in over a thousand years.
Canterlot Castle was built incorrectly, little does anypony know, and the front yard was accessible either by flight, or opening the front doors, which, to the embarrassment of the architects, lead right off a cliff into a fifty story drop to a street far below.
Celestia had made that mistake once. Only once. Those architects found out what it was like to be royally fucked. The old expression taken very seriously. Nopony saw them for four months after they were called into Celestia's bed chambers, not even the guards outside those very doors, who guarded the inside of the room while she was gone.
(Back on topic)
Luna stood in the doorway like a statue, her hair the only thing on her body to move. She abrely breathed, her regalia of the "Black gold" variant to her sister's, near bounced off her chest with every heart beat.
The Stallion seemed a bit older, black coat, dark grey mane, and his collar. A smooth pitch black metal collar that moved like a string of water, and on the end of it, the very coat of arms which Black steel himself had made for Luna.
Black Steel was just as motionless, save for the feint smile he gave, his horn glowing. A second later, he teleported to her, and they stared into each other's eyes, entranced upon that single gaze.
"...Two thousand years I've waited. All that time I waited to get just one more look into those beautiful eyes you have...", Steel said.
Luna blinked, a smile spreading across her muzzle as tears swelled in her eyes. She pulled him into a hug, beginning to sob aloud. Black Steel embraced her, nearly about to break down into the very state she was in. But he held strong.
"I missed you so much! Every night of imprisonment, I cried! I never slept, I couldn't, and even then, I always went to the blacksmith, hoping you'd be there!"
It was all he was told, but one part. The days alone imprisoned in the very moon...That can drive a pony to madness.
"I'm glad to hear that you never once stopped thinking of me. I never slept a single night without you on my mind, or in my dreams. But now...Now we're together, and that is all in the past...", Steel replied.
Luna sniffed and wiped away her tears, parting them from the long hug.
"Did you keep your promise?"
"To the night's end, I bare this armour, hoof crafted by ourself, as thy stallion, thy knight in glinting armour, to gallop and protect below the moonlight by which thou ruleth. We art thou steed, thine lover, and we shall never pass against our word.", he recited from days remembered long ago.
"Oh, Steel, you make me feel so special!", he held a sob back.
"No need to shed any more tears. I am here for you, to stay, until I die."
Luna sniffed once more and dried her tears again, clearing her throat. She took a breath in, but let it out, smiling.
"I guess a repositioning should be in order?", Luna asked.
"Uhm. I'm not quite sure what you mean."
"You are the world's greatest blacksmith, are you not?"
"Yes. I see now."
"Yes...And...Thank you..."
"It is always my pleasure to do as you command, to be there for you."
"To tell the truth, I could use some help, but that will be discussed later. For now, it's time to get you back to where you fit best."
Black Steel nodded.