And so, Hephaestus Wept

March walked silently, eyes filled with purpose and focus-

"Heloooo?~" Pinkie Pie would practically sing out as held her ear to March's cranium, "Can you hear me?"

"Marchy... Why is this... Sassy lost pony talking to us?" Lulu questioned within the confines of her partner's mind eliciting a reaction from the Pink One.

"Hey! I'm not lost!" Pinkie shouted with righteous indignation as she reeled her head back as if the offense disgusted her... Until she giggled, "I'm Pinkie Pie!~"

"Maaarch... That thing can HEAR us!" Sato declared as Pinkie now harrumphed.

"I'm not a thing! I'm-"

"Pinkie Pie, yes, we heard," March replied, Lulu and Sato joining their voices together. Every pony turned their heads to look at the blacksmith as Lulu gave a spirited, "Womp womp!"

"Just what are you?" Twilight asked with ever growing curiosity.

"And the hay ya mean by we?" Applejack asked.

March would sigh and shake his head, "Like I said, that's-"

"Complicated and we don't have time, yeah yeah," Rainbow cut in, "Sure sounds like a good excuse for a spy!"

"Um... Mister Rabbit?" A voice soft as a cloud would ring within March's ears, his eyes being drawn to his immediate left before shifting just slightly over his shoulder as he looked at a single blue eye hide behind a mass of pink hair with a meep.

"Did... Did my heart skip a beat?" Sato spoke through March, the ponies surrounding him now paying even closer attention.

"I knew it! I knew there were other ponies in there!" Pinkie Pie cheered.

"Um, Pinkie? I don't think-" The soft voice would attempt to speak, their tranquility intruded upon by the loud rambunctiousness of the Pink One. Thankfully, she was content with simply talking to herself about a "Super Deluxe Triple Stacked Party".

March would try to reply to the shy, buttery yellow pony once more before Rainbow had stepped in between, "Hey! You stay away from her!"

Blinking, March noticed that, yes, the Shy One attempted to speak again as her Rainbow maned "friend" continued to speak over her, "And don't think I'm going to sit back if you try to do anything to my friends!"

"I can respect your loyalty," March would reply, his voice augmented by Sato's dark undertones, "But know that blind loyalty can harm those you want to protect."

The temperature around them grew colder for the briefest of moments as Twilight pointed at a massive tree turned building, "Oh look, there's the library let's all go in!" Enveloping her charge in a violet aura, Twilight rushed away as the drakeling shouted, "Woah! Slow down, Twi!"

The others rushed forward as well... Save for the Rainbow One as they looked back to the Shy One... For all of a second. March didn't see it, but he looked back as Rainbow walked on ahead.

"Did... You say something to her?" March asked curiously as the buttery mare shook her head.

"I... Just wanted to apologize. My friends mean well and no bunny rabbit is an evil bunny rabbit."

...

"You have a lot of trust in me miss..."

With a giggle, the pony walked forward and pushed March forward with a wing, "Not miss. Just Fluttershy, Mr.-"

"Not mister," March replied with a smile of his own as he moved, "March."

Once safely inside, pony and man would find the others crowded around Twilight as she looked through a book.

"Here! These are the Elements of Harmony," Twilight spoke, "These are the artefacts that sealed away Nightmare Moon all those years ago. If we use them again-"

"Woah woah woah, slow down there egghead," Rainbow spoke as she pulled the book down from Twilight's view, much to her friend's audible disappointment as well as a cold glare from the drakeling, "What? You're really gonna trust something you read from a foal's bedtime story?"

"Pretty sure your Big Bad Evil Guy is, how'd you put it?" March asked as he found a wall to lean on.

"Who even are you!?" Rainbow shouted, "You fall from the sky, trash the stage we put out for the Princess and then you... You..."

"Right, I said the unalive word," March murmured as the others experienced a visceral reaction, faces showing disgust as their ears flattened backwards as if in fear, "Maybe we should... Introduce ourselves? Names, occupation, experience."

"Experience in exactly what, darling?" The alabaster unicorn asked.

"You know? Fighting?"

The cowpony and Rainbow shared a smile, striking their forehoofs together, "Name's Rainbow Dash, fastest flier in Equestria~"

"And A'hm Applejack! Me an mah brother Big Macintosh do all the apple pickin' down at the family orchard."

March nodded at this before looking at the other four ponies, "And you four?" He asked as the Pink One appeared in his vision as he immediately said, "Pinkie Pie, yes."

"Hrmm..." With a pout, the Pink One huffed... Something which riled the senses of the others, "I'm Ponyville's Party Planner."

"Good, we'll need a wild card," He gave the off put pony a smile, one she graciously returned in full, "So we've got a chaotic force of nature, a farmha-"

"Farmhoof, baby~" Lulu corrected audibly as March scratched his cheek.

"You... Know to make that distinction?" Twilight asked curiously, a pen and notepad appearing from a burst of magic which now floated curiously to the right of her field of vision.

March shrugged and smiled, "Eh, wasn't all that hard to- we're getting off topic. Science mare, name please?"

The lavender mare snorted and shook her head at this, "Science Mare? No no, my name is Twilight Sparkle, personal student of Princess Celestia~" She closed her eyes as she held her head up high, left forehoof held over her chest.

"And I'm Spike!" The drakeling exclaimed with a toothy grin and puff of his chest, "Twilight's number one assistant!"

"Okay, putting you down under non combatant support partner."

"Hey! What do you mean non combatant!?" Spike questioned indignantly.

"Hatchling, I could sever you limb from limb in a literal half second and you all told me you don't ki-" As March argued his point, Pinkie shoved another cupcake in his mouth.

"Can we ixnay on the ill kay?" The Pink One pleaded, their puffy bubblegum like mane in the process of deflating. Looking around, the drakeling was not only mortified, but was now cowering behind Twilight, the mare having dropped her hold on her items.

The others had fared equally as terribly, horror and panicked anger flaring up.

"I'll explain my side of things once we've all introduced ourselves and we get moving."

The blacksmith's words were less than reassuring, but one amongst the ponies held a bit more bravery than expected.

"Um... My name is Fluttershy. I help take care of sick and hurt animals that come from the Everfree forest..."

March nodded at this with a serious stare, "Can I assume you've seen your fair share of combat?" When the shy pegasus did not deny this, the others gave her strange looks which urged her to clarify.

"I've... Never been in a fight, but sometimes the animals come in... Injured, and sometimes I'd have to get help to stop one."

"Okay, marking you down as the group's beastmaster," March replied as Sato spoke, "And just where are we marking this down?" His only reply being, "In my head."

"And that leaves you, miss-"

"Rarity Belle!~ Ponyville's resident fashionista!" The alabaster unicorn declared with playful pride, "I own and operate Carousel Boutique, where everything is chíc, unique, and magnifique~"

"Non combatant seamstress, good for armoring, but not for the battlefield."

"Hmph! I'll have you know that despite being a lady, I can defend myself~"

"Y-yeah!" Spike stammered out as he found the will to speak once more, "And what about you!? What gives you the right to act so high and mighty!?"

March stared at the drakeling before sighing, "Outside."

"Wh- outside?"

With flooding questions, the ponies all watched as March opened the door, walked out into the middle of the dirt path and motioned for Spike to follow, "The more time we waste here, the more time your Big Bad has to prepare. You want to prove your worth as a warrior? Fight me at my weakest."

Spike "Sparkle". Child. Son. Infant Assistant...

Dragon

To Twilight's credit, the child was given an education far more advanced than any one institution could provide. Being so young once allowed the unicorn to understand that children needed time and space to properly grow... But she was a pony, and she knew nothing of draconic pride.

Spike Sparkle. For all his knowledge and sense of self, could not deny the call to combat, and before he could realize it; he was ten feet away from March.

"W-wait, wha-" By the time he overcame that compulsion, March had already dashed past the drakeling's left side, only two inches away and with a sphere of water forming in his left hand.

"Signature Move: Tear Shoot!"

Spike would be staying home that night.