The Forgotten Race

Princess Celestia steps in front of her sister protectively, then narrows her eyes at the two-legged creature having a light tan colored coat with a long, ornately braided auburn mane hanging from the back of its head and the bottom of its chin with bright blue eyes and asks, "Apology accepted, and just who and what, are you?"

Galad stands up and says, "My name is Galad Hillsworth, and I am a dwarf from Hammerdeep far to the west of here."

She looks at him a bit closer and notices the ornate hammer and the symbol on the shield as she tries to figure out which family has that crest and sighs saying, "Sadly I do not recall ever meeting any of your kind in Equestria before, that is a very fine weapon. Very few are able to craft such weapons, those that can have been missing for a great many years now. I do not recall ever hearing of a nation called Hammerdeep, what family crest is upon your shield?"

He looks at the little princess as she squints from time to time and chuckles saying, "The headache and ringing will fade away after a few minutes princess, just bear with the nuisance until then." He shifts his eyes back to the tall princess and says, "Thank you for the compliment, Your Majesty. You wouldn't have ever heard of a nation called Hammerdeep, because we dwarves have been in seclusion for many years. This is not a family crest princess, it is the crest representing our home."

Twilight then recalls the fight and says, "Oh Princess Celestia, I need to tell you that Galad helped us against Nightmare Moon. I was telling my friends about feeling the spark and how happy that I am to have them as my friends while they were keeping her distracted with melee combat."

Celestia calms down a little and relaxes her wings and says, "That is good to hear Twilight." She then looks a little softer to the dwarf and smiles saying, "It surprises me that we have never heard of anything even remotely mentioning the existence of Dwarves in Equestria. Perhaps you can show us where it is one day when time allows Galad Hillsworth, there is a Summer Sun Celebration going on and you are welcome to attend it. Thank you for assisting my student and her friends against Nightmare Moon."

Galad bows his head to her then says, "Just so you all know, I'm a male dwarf. I would be happy to do that one day when I'm able to trust you fully, for we have made mistakes in the past. I followed them here because I was at home when I wanted to see what the outside world is like, mom finally allowed me to go outside where I eventually ran into this group outside of the forest and decided to follow them. I was trying to find a way to introduce myself but had to make sure they weren't dangerous. I don't mean to be rude in any way Your Majesty, but how are you a thousand years old? You don't look a day over 100, how long-lived are ponies normally?"

Rarity's jaw drops open at the insult, narrowing her eyes at Galad before stomps towards him saying, "Oh that is beyond rude, Princess Celestia does not look old at all!"

The tall princess lightly chuckles and says, "Calm down Rarity, he wasn't trying to be rude. but that could have been worded better. Ponies normally live for around 70 to 80 years, though alicorns like my sister Luna and myself have no idea how long our lives last. How long is a dwarf's life usually, and how old are you?"

He looks to Celestia and runs his hand along his beard then says, "Dwarves usually live to an average of 250 years, but it is possible for a dwarf to live to 300. I just turned 95 this year, so I can drink ale."

Celestia is shocked to hear that and says, "That is quite remarkable to hear, I thought that the only beings that lived longer than us ponies are alicorns and dragons. I would love to stay and learn more, but there is a celebration that must be starting soon. Perhaps we can speak more after the celebration, but my sister and I must head to Canterlot to ride a chariot to Ponyville. We will meet you all there, may you all have a safe journey back to Ponyville. Oh, I nearly forgot about the elements, could you all pass them here so we can put them in a safe place?"

Galad watches the others hand them over, as the princess tucks them away somewhere with her magic. He then watches the two princesses teleport away, then turns to the others and asks, "Where are these places Canterlot and Ponyville they mentioned?"

Pinkie Pie steps forward and then says, "When you first met with us, did you see a mountain in the distance with a city on the side of it?"

He nods his head and answers, "Yeah I saw something in the distance similar to a mountain, but it was too dark to see the city. I saw a dark town after I followed the tracks, what one is that?"

She then smiles and says, "That town is called Ponyville, the city on the side of the mountain is Canterlot."

Rarity then sighs as she thinks about Canterlot and says, "Oh it is much more than just a city darling, it is so full of glorious fashion, sophistication, and of course the handsomest stallion you could ever dream of meeting...Princess Celestia's nephew, Prince Blueblood."

Twilight smiles and looks to the group and says, "Well everyone, shall we be on our way back to Ponyville? We have a long way to travel back."

Galad watches the group make their way down the tunnel, looking back at the broken pieces of armor on the floor then decides to collect the fragments left behind. He follows the group back saying, "I have to get my pack from where I left it outside the building, I will catch up with you girls at the bridge." He then heads through the room and exits it, making his way to where his pack is and puts the shattered armor pieces into his pack, then returns his shield to its spot. He then lifts the pack onto his back and catches up with the group saying, "You girls cross first, I am heavier than you are."

Rarity crosses the bridge after Fluttershy and says, "So what can you tell us about this city of yours called Hammerdeep that we have never heard of, I doubt it could compare to the beauty of Canterlot where the princesses live."

He makes his way across the bridge carefully, hearing each board groan in protest under his weight, and says, "Well I can say that it is an impressive sight unless you were never allowed to go outside the city. There are towering white granite columns supporting numerous paths that run throughout the city with crystal lamps that illuminate the city's interior, the paths to walk on are lined with gold trim. The path leading to the throne room is made from gold and silver squares, the homes for the other dwarves are made entirely from stone except for the furniture and interior decorations. The crafting quarters are also a sight to see, with a few stalls to show their latest works. There are numerous mining shafts down below, but the forges are higher above that have a series of funnels that direct the molten metals towards forms so they can cool down and be used for later use."

She cocks her head and says, "The entire city is stone, it doesn't really sound all that impressive to me."

Twilight looks at her and says, "Rarity, perhaps there is a reason for them using stone to build their homes. Why would you build mines below the city, wouldn't the weight from above cause them to collapse?"

Galad chuckles and finishes crossing the bridge saying, "If you were building stone homes on normal ground, they normally would collapse from the weight. We dwarves are peculiar, we prefer to make our homes inside mountains. You see, our city of Hammerdeep is a city under a mountain, so normally we don't go outside much except for the hunting party that ventures out to find food for us dwarves."

Fluttershy nervously asks, "W-What d-do dwarves normally eat?"

He looks at the nervous yellow pony with light pink hair and wings and says, "We aren't like you ponies, we can't eat plants or grass. Our diet consists mostly of meat, fruits, vegetables, grains, and beverages such as liquor, water, cider, or milk."

She steps away from him a little and hides behind her mane then asks, "W-What k-kind of meat?"

Galad watches as they all glance back at him nervously and answers her, "Don't worry, dwarves don't eat pony meat. We tend to stick to manticore, big boar, bear, or even hydra meat. It has been quite a while since we last had bear or manticore though, I do wish we could find another source of food so we could give the forest a bit of a break."

Fluttershy walks beside him and looks at him with a serious look on her face and says, "I have animal friends that are among those you mentioned, I would be very upset if one of them went missing and became your food."

He looks at her and sighs, then gives her a sorrowful look and says, "I would suggest you finding them and asking them to avoid the woods past the tracks to the west of Ponyville then because that is where our hunting parties normally wander to find our food. We are not able to tell which animals are your friends, I hope you can understand that we are just trying to find food so we can survive.

She sighs in return and looks away briefly before saying, "I do understand that, and I will be sure to have them avoid that area, thank you for being considerate. My name is Fluttershy, it is nice to meet you Galad." She then returns to the group as they make their way back to Ponyville.

Galad watches as she walks away and says, "It is nice to meet you too Fluttershy, I will try to get by with what I have in my pack. I will also try to avoid eating meat around ponies during my time with you ponies, it will be difficult but not impossible. I hope to learn a few things from you before I have to go back home in six days, why did the sun take so long to rise this morning?"

Twilight then hangs back a little and looks at his weapon curiously and asks, "Well that is simple to explain, my name is Twilight Sparkle, and I am Princess Celestia's prized student. You see, Princess Celestia is responsible for raising or lowering the sun and moon each day and night. She was captured by Nightmare Moon and was unable to raise the sun and lower the moon to start the day."

Pinkie then hangs back and asks, "Hi, my name is Pinkie Pie, I love to throw parties for all of my friends! You are new to Ponyville, so I need to plan a welcome party for you! Do you mind if I ask you some questions Galad?"

He looks at the very pink pony with light blue eyes and says, "Sure you can, if I can't answer it I will tell you I can't answer that."

She pulls out a list and a quill then says, "Okay then. First question, when is your birthday?"

Galad chuckles and says, "Well, we don't exactly use months. We use the seasons, so I was born about three weeks after the winter solstice."

Pinkie then thinks for a moment and says, "Okay that would put your birthday around...January 11, 1926. Next question, What are your favorite foods besides meat?"

He smiles and answers her near-endless multitudes of questions as they make their way to Ponyville, finding her energetic nature quite interesting.