An Artificer's Touch On The World

Chapters

Prologue: The Gray Dwarven Artificer
Act 1: An Unexpected Bond
Act 2: A Rather Enjoyable Dinner
Act 3: Celestia Comes To Visit The Dwarf
Act 4: The Real Fun Begins...
Act 5: Zargan's First Customer
Act 6: The Dwarf Takes To The Skies
Act 7: A Minin' We Are Goin'
Act 8: A Dance Under The Midnight Moon
Act 9: Zargan's First Nightmare Night
Act 10: Invitation To The Yule Gala
Act 11: The Wine Mistress Gets Outdealed
Act 12: A Run In With The Castle Smithies
Act 13: The Guiding Hands Of A Warsmith
Act 14: The Wrath Of A Warsmith
Act 15: The Trial & Prison Time
Act 16: The Prison Life Of A Dwarf

Prologue: The Gray Dwarven Artificer

In the dead of night, a group of ponies dressed in all black and hoods move quickly as they soon come upon a hidden trap door that leads further underground. The leader of the group places a finger to his lips to the other three as they quietly pull open the door and begin to descend down the stone stairs before they just as quietly close the door. It was in this very underground lair that two of the ponies had seen a short but burly looking figure come down here with what appeared to be rather priceless ore and jewel, and they wanted in on such things to line their pockets with.

The group crept slowly and stealthily through the stone corridors that looked like they had been drilled through with great care, the dim light of the wall torches lighting their way as they continued to press forward into the now open room. What appeared to be some kind of forge as they saw weapons and armor of all kinds lining the walls each separated into their respective sections. Swords, axes, hammers, shields and armor of all types of heft. It appeared that whoever was down here was a superb craftsman. The group had certainly hit the motherload. And it appeared that the creator was nowhere in sight.

As they began pocketing and stuffing whatever they could get their hands on, one of them noticed a rather beautifully ornate hammer sitting upon the anvil next to the forge. The pony in question saw bits in his eyes before he made his way towards the hammer and reached out to take it. Only to hear a suddenly loud thundering boom and a line of pure magic energy colliding with his hand and piercing clean through it.

The stallion let out a cry of pain before he dropped to his knees, falling back and clutching his now bleeding hand as the figure they had seen come into the underground lair slowly come into view as he was holding out a large magical revolver, the barrel smoking from the blast as he glared angrily at them “Ya take one more blightin’ step toward my hammer, ya will lose more than just that hand there, lad.” he said in his rather thick dwarven accent as he didn’t take his eyes off the group who was pillaging his precious creations.

That’s the thing about gray dwarves.They do not take so kindly to others trying to steal their hard work. And these poor fools happen to stumble across one who really didn’t take too kindly to that one bit. He then points his gun towards the group and fires a couple of warning shots at their feet, making them drop the sacks that they were carrying “You should know that taking things that don’t belong to ya isn’t very proper of ya…” He said as walked down the steps of where he was coming from.

Soon enough, the dwarf came into the full light of the forge as he maintained his aim on the group, the dwarf’s eyes glowing a fierce ice blue and his skin covered in glowing runes with the same color, the man was only dressed in pants,metal shin guards and tough hide leather boots.n The group immediately threw their hands up as they gazed fearfully at the unknown weapon in his hand before they looked down at their indisposed companion “H-hey…take it easy now..we got lost is all, we had no idea there was no one living here-”.

Another gunshot rang out as the swarf aimed for the on4 speaking, landing a clean shot through the pony’s knee, making them collapse instantly as they cried out in pain, clutching the bleeding and burning wound as smoke rises from the hole “If ya are gonna lie to a gray dwarf…make sure you do it right, ya stupid gobshite. Now then…” he said before kicking the writhing pony whose hand he had blown a hole in down from his forge and into the group who catches their comrade “Get the fuck out of my home.” he growled as he cocked the hammer on his gun.

Without hesitation, the two uninjured ponies abandoned their would-be treasures and fled the underground cave with their friends on their backs. Once he knew that they were gone, he locked the trap door behind them before making his way over to his anvil and picks up his hammer “Daddy’s here, me beauty…” he said as he gently rubbed the head of his hammer as if he was patting the head of his very own daughter.

The dwarf lifted his gaze from his hammer to his forge before making his way back to where his meal and mead were so rudely interrupted by the intruders before sitting down and taking a huge gulp of the drink from the tankard that sat next to a large bowl of beef stew. He placed the hammer in his belt and holstered his revolver on the other side before picking up his spoon and resuming his hardy meal for one.

–One Month Earlier–

Zargan! What’s the hold up down there, lad?! We gotta get this wall taken down before lunch time!” cried out a dwarf that stood on a higher ledge in an excavation site that he and a few other dwarves were working on. “Aye, just gimme a minute, bossman! Just getting o'l Biannca and Rosa ready!” he said as he slid what appeared to be two large drills upon his arms before slamming them together as they rotated causing them to spark up, his mana being the driving force to generate their spin.

These wonderfully crafted arm drills were a product of his own creation. The young dwarf, currently only at the age of fifty years made his way over to the wall before slamming the drill tips into it before the rotating bits began to tear through the rock like it was a hot knife through butter. His mind and body now solely focused on the work ahead as he began drilling through the wall to get onto the other side where there was rumored to be a treasure of unparalleled worth. As he pushed ahead, other dwarves behind him began clearing out the tunnel with regular picks.

The thing about Zargan’s devices is that only his mana could power them. Not only that, but his mana pool was abysmally larger than a dwarf should have. So it was perfect that he would be the only one to use them, as the flow of mana in his devices would easily drain most dwarves. It was no trouble for him though. In fact, he loved that only he could operate his tools. It meant that if they broke down, he knew how to fix them himself.

It did garner the jealousy of the other workers, however. As Zargan’s tools allowed for him to make ease of menial tasks such as clearing rocks and rubble with such ease. But at the same time, they were grateful that he so willingly helped out to make the work go by that much quicker. It wasn’t long until Zargan had finally breached the otherside of the wall, the mana reader on his right wrist going crazy as he got closer and closer to the breach until he finally tore a hole large enough for him and the foreman who had followed behind him into a large chamber where a rather impressive amount of gold ore and a rather peculiar looking ruby idol statue sat on a pedestal.

Zargan marveled at the idol’s beauty as he removed his wrist mounted drills and carefully took the idol in his rough hands. He admired its shine and splendor as he looked back at the foreman as he held it up to show the boss what he had found. “Looky what we have here, bossman! The mana reader is goin’ crazy here! This would make an excellent piece of crafting material for one of my machines. Would you be opposed to me taking this all for myself? You and the boys can have all the gold and jewels in here.”

The foreman thought about it for a moment as he surveyed the area. There was more than enough riches in this cavern for all his workers and himself to have a small fortune. So he smiled and nodded to Zargan “Aye laddy. I think we can agree to that. Ya’d get more use out of than any of us anyways. It is all yours.” he said as he waved his hand in approval at Zargan’s request. The young dwarf’s face lit up with a smile before he did a little bit of a miner’s jig before gazing upon his prize once more.

Zargan’s joy was short-lived however, as the whole cavern began to tremble and shake as the ceiling began to drop rock from above and the ground began to crack and crumble. Thinking quickly, Zargan leapt towards the foreman and pushed him through the opening he had created before the room had sealed him in. Soon enough, the ground opened up and a large swirling purple and blue portal swallowed him up without warning “Fuuuuuccckk meeeeeee!!!!” he shouted as he vanished from his world.

--Present Day–

Zargan continued to eat his meal in peace as he gazed at the ruby idol that sat in the middle of his table. It had been a full month since he was brought to this world and he had been doing his best to get by with the knowledge he had. Being a weapon and mason smith, he was more than capable of carving out a living from scratch once more. After all, this realm seemed to have an abundance of similar jewels and riches not unlike his own.

“I was too eager to claim ya for myself, darlin’. You were just sittin there on the pedestal. And like a fool, I pick ya up without even thinkin’. For being so well learned, it was a pretty dumb move on my part.” he said as he lifted his tankard of freshly brewed mead “Way to go, Zargan Runespear, ya fuckin’ idiot…” he said before taking a big gulp of the beverage.

He sat there and continued to eat and drink away, it wasn’t until he heard what sounded like the clap of thunder from down the stone hall that lead to the main chamber and the sound of pouring rain hitting the trap door heavily that he sighed in slight annoyance “And hereIi was plannin’ on goin’ huntin’ later. Some venison sounded amazon’ tonight…” he said as he looked over at the small chicken pen which had a few chickens clucking and pecking at the ground as they ate at the bugs on the ground “Sorry lasses. One of ya is goin’ on the choppin’ block tonight.” he said as he made his way over to the kitchen area and began washing some wild veggies he had found in the forest nearby.

As he listened to the rain and thunder, he noticed another sound coming from the trap door. It sounded like desperate banging and pulling as the metal latch langed down the hall. Did those thieves come back for a second round? Or perhaps shelter from the storm? Regardless, Zargan was about to make sure that they never came back. He grabbed his hammer from his belt and slapped the head of it in his palm as he made his way up the stairs and to the door.

On the outside, the one pulling and jerking on the trap door was a small yellow filly with a red mane and tail all done up in a neat little red bow. The poor girl was desperately trying to get the door open to get out of the rain. “Come..on! Open up, dangit!” she said as she started to get worried that she wouldn’t be able to get out of the rain. It was getting darker and the rain was getting more and more heavy by the moment.

The door suddenly flew open, knocking the filly on her rear and tumbling back as she let out a cry of pain as the door had hit her pretty hard. Zargan leapt out of the hole with his hammer lifted high in the air as he prepared to strike the intruder with deadly force, the lightning striking behind him as the filly stared up at him with fear painted on her face.and tears starting to well up in her eyes. It wasn’t until he was about to swing down that he noticed just who it was.

“...You are just a wee little lass. What are ya doin’ all the way out here in this weather, little one?” he asked before his facial features softened from the fierce look they had beforehand. He places his hammer back into his belt before offering his hand to the small family who scooted away from him in fear. He understood how she felt as he was literally about to bring the hammer down upon her.

“Please pardon me, darlin’. I had some unwelcome visitors here earlier and I thought they had come back for a second round. Please, come with me and let’s get ya out of the rain for now. I have a forge ya can get dry by.” he said as he inched closer, his hand still being offered to her. With hesitation, she placed a hand in his hand before he carefully led her into the stairs, closing the door quickly behind them so that the rain didn’t keep flowing in.

“Watch your step, lass.” he said in a fatherly manner as he led her down the hallway and into the main room. Once in there, he sat ehr down by the forge in a wooden chair before he opened up the furrance and fed in some mana, the whole thing catching fire and giving off a brilliant ice blue flame. The filly looked around at all the weapons and armor that the dwarf had adorned on his walls. Her eyes widened in amazement as she then watched him move around quickly before he brought her a piece of sweet bread and a glass of drinking water. He wasn’t about to give this little girl a tankard of mead!

“My name is Zargan Runespear. And what do they call ya, lassy?” he asked as he held out the food and drink to her. “Ah am called Apple Bloom. Thank you for takin me in, Mister Zargan…” she said as she nibbled on the bread, still a bit nervous around him. Little did they both know that this encounter was one of destiny. And a long time friendship was to be formed from this.

Author's Note

I am gonna be alternating between this story and The Ghostly Voodoo King. That way I don't get burned out on either one.

May the darkness grant you peace.

Act 1: An Unexpected Bond

Zargan now sat across from the young filly who nibbled on the sweet bread that was given to her. All was silent for a moment until Zargan decided to be the one to speak “So tell me, wee one. What brought ya all the way out here? It is a rather secluded spot for such a youngen like yourself to be so far from home.” he said as he took a drink of his mead.

Apple Bloom looked up at him with a tilt of her head”Actually, our orchard is just a few feet away from this place. You have literally become our neighbor it would seem, sir.”. Zargan nodded in response “Aye, I did notice that. I hope that ya don’t mind that I took a few of your apples that had fallen off the trees. I had to get to them before the varmants did. I have been told I make a rather mean apple pie.” he said as he chuckled a bit from his own bragging.

Apple Bloom gave a rather soft, shy smile before taking a bigger bite of the bread “As for why Ah was out here, Ah was on my way back from my club house with my friends until it started comin’ down. Ah had no choice since this was the closest shelter. Our little club house can’t withstand this kind of downpour.”. Zargan arched one of his thick brows a bit before asking “Our? I suppose you mean ya friends and yourself then? Are they gonna be okay out there?” he asked with a hint of worry in his tone.

Apple Bloom thought about it for a moment before worry came over her face “Ah don;t know if they made it back okay or not…now Ah am really worried…” she said as she started to look panicked. Zargan sighed softly before setting down his tankard and walked over to throw his cloak on “I will go and search for them for you just in case. Ya stay here and continue to get warm. All I ask is ya don’t try to lift anything ya can’t. Dwarven craftsmanship tends to be a lot heavier than what folks can normally handle.”.

And with that, he made his way out of the large chamber and into the rain, the trap door locking behind him as he used his magic to do so. Apple Bloom sat there for what felt like forever. SHe decided to get up and look around at what the dwarf had to see. And her eyes immediately caught sight of his wall of weapons and armor. Never before had the little filly seen such high quality craftsmanship. Not even the royal guards had such quality armor and weapons like this.

She continued to scoot down the wall more and more as she gazed upon Zargan’s work until she came to a wall of shortswords and daggers. They were all beautiful, but there was one that caught her eye in particular. It was a shortsword with a leather bound hilt with a ruby embedded in the pummel which appeared to have come with a matching dagger which rested below it.

Knowing how sharp these blades could be, the filly was careful in her grabbing of the dagger to make sure she could at least be able to lift that properly. While it was heavier than a kitchen knife for sure, she seemed to be able to hold it in one hand fairly easily. Then again, she wasn’t an average filly. As her work in the fields certainly made her far more athletic than most. She continued to gaze upon the dagger in awe as she carefully placed the flat side of the blade in her hand, the shine was absolutely mesmerizing to her.

“Aaah, you like that one do ya?” Zargan asked as he made his way down the stairs somehow dry as a bone even though it was still pouring outside. Apple Bloom nearly jumped out of her skin and just about dropped the dagger, but held onto the hilt tight so she would drop such a fine item. “S-Sorry, sir….I really like the simple yet pretty ensign of it. I just had to take a better look at it myself…” she said as she lowered her head and held the blade out in both hands to him.

Zargan hung his cloak up and walked over to the filly, his footsteps heavy against the stone floor as he then stood in front of her and gently took the blade from her hands “I did say you could pick up what ya could, lass. Nd judgin’ by your lack of injury, ya got enough sense to handle blades carefully.” he said as he twirled the blade around in his hand a few times, even tossing it in the air a bit to show off. “This dagger and that shortsword come together as a pair. They can either be used separately or together in battle.”. As Zargan turned his full attention to Apple Bloom, he took notice of her physique.

He lets out a low “Hmmmm..” as he rubs his beard in deep thought as he looks her over thoroughly. As he did this, Apple Bloom didn’t look uncomfortable about his eyes running over her form, as he noticed that he was evaluating her in a more serious way rather than creepy. “While ya are a bit young to be sure, your physique is definitely fit for light armor plating with a shortsword and dagger combat style.” he said as he then poked at her stomach “Tighten up a bit here..” he then moves his finger to her arms “...here…” and then points to her legs “...and here. Gain a bit more muscle in those spots and I would be happy to teach ya the basics at least. If ya are interested, of course.”.

Apple Bloom’s eyes lit up with excitement as she rapidly nodded her head multiple times “YUes! Yes yes yes, please!” she said with joy as she jumped around him a few times “Ah promise Ah will work my hardest to learn from you, Sir. Ah can’t wait to start!”. Zargan smiled warmly at the excited filly. He makes his way over to the wall and removes the sheath of the dagger before placing the blade in the lacquered wooden sheath and holds it out to the filly “As further incentive, I am willing to part with this dagger for no charge. And once you complete your training, I shall give you the shortsword as a graduation present. How does that sound, lass?”.

Apple Bloom stood there speechless as an open smile formed on her lips, she carefully took the sheathed weapon in both hands before jumping up and down while giving off a rather adorable little squeal of joy. The sight of this definitely made the dwarf's heart feel all warm and fuzzy. He reached up and placed a large hand upon her head, gently petting her “I will take that response as a yes.” he said as he gazed down at her with fatherly approval. Apple Bloom immediately wrapped her arms around the dwarf which was rather hard to do. While was a bit taller than her, four and a half feet to be exact, he was a living wall of muscle. Very stocky and bulky.

Zargan was a bit taken aback by the sudden affection, but received it with a smile nonetheless. He placed a gentle hand upon her back as he patted her there before backing away from her “As for your friends, they seem to be at your home already waiting for you. Ya must have gotten turned around in the rain and found your way here. Would ya like me to walk ya back home? Or do ya wish to hang around here a bit longer till the rain stops?”.

Apple Bloom thought hard on it for a moment “While Ah do wanna stay and learn more today, Ah should probably get home as soon as possible. My big sister and brother are probably worried sick about me at this point.” she said as she looked up at him. Zargan nodded in understanding before walking over to his cloak and tosses it onto his shoulders once more. He then walks over to his anvil and places his smithing hammer back on top of its resting place before gently patting it “Daddy will return soon, sweetie..” he said before making his way over to the weapon wall and grabbing his favorite war hammer “If we go, Mishka. We got a young lass to escort back to her family.” he said as he also took his revolver from its holster and charged his mana into it, making sure the chambers were all full.

Apple Bloom watched him in fascination as he spoke to his weapons and tools. It appeared that he even gave them names which were rather unusual, but certainly not strange. In fact, she actually loved the idea. “I forgot to tell ya. Make sure to give your dagger a name there, lass. Naming your weapon gives it a sort of hidden power all its own. At least, it does where I come from.” he said as he was now ready to take the filly back home.

Once they were outside, Zargan tapped a few runes on his right gauntlet plate before a dome appeared over them both, blocking all the rain from dropping on them within an eight foot radius. Apple Bloom was impressed once again by the dwarf’s abilities. It seemed that he was well versed in magic too. She looked up as she watched the rain simply slide off the magical force field. It looked pretty as it gave off a soft blue light. Once she snapped back to what was happening, she took hold of Zargan’s hand and smiled up at him sweetly as they walked together in the rain. ZWhile Zargan didn’t expect the hand holding, he didn;t pull away either. It felt rather nice. This little filly was such a sweetheart.

All was going well on their journey back to Apple Bloom’s home, when out of nowhere, Zargan stopped dead in his tracks as he became fully alert. He released Apple Bloom’s hand and placed an arm out in front of her protectively as he could hear multiple sets of footsteps surrounding them. And they didn;t sound like the same kind of steps that he and she gave off. Just then, multiple loud howls could be heard as multiple sets of glowing green eyes came into view. “T-timber wolves!!!” shouted Apple Bloom as she cowered behind Zargan.

Zargan slowly and carefully pulled out his war hammer in one hand while his other reached behind him and pulled out his revolver. The dwarf taking a protective fighting stance in front of Apple Bloom as his soft expression turned to something more fierce and monstrous “Stay behind me, lass..and stay as close as you can and try to keep up with my movements.” he said in a low growl as he got ready to protect her with his life.

Soon enough, the first timber wolf barked loudly as it charged Zargan and leapt into the air. As it came down, Zargan let out a battle cry as he swung the hammer as hard as he could at the creature’s head, immediately demolishing it into wooden splinters, making the creature drop instantly. He didn;t waste a single moment as he knew another was leaping at him just as the other fell. He spun around with his revolver in hand as he pointed it at the airborne timber wolf, emptying two chambers of charged magic into the creature’s torso. He had even landed a few solid kicks on a couple of others that had absolutely split them in two.

Apple Bloom was indeed having a hard time keeping up with Zargan. SHe was trying to keep close like he said she should, even coming close to being grabbed by a couple of the wolves a few times. But, Zargan was always on time to prevent that from happening. One of them did grab her by the tail which caused the filly to scream out in terror as it tried to pull her away from Zargan. Zargan’s face turned even more ferocious when he saw this before he pounced on the timber wolf like a rabid beast and began pummeling it with his hammer until it was nothing more than sawdust at this point.

The beast had let go of Apple Bloom well past that point, it wasn’t until she called out to him that he snapped out of his rage “Mister Zargan! Ah am okay! You can stop!” she said as she placed a hand upon his shoulder. He stopped his relentless attack midswing as he heard her. His breathing slowed down and his facial features softened once more before he turned to face her “Ah….sorry about that, lass. I saw that thing grab ya and I just..went into berserk mode.”

Apple Bloom gave a sigh of relief as she saw him return back to his normal self before taking hold of his hand again once he sheathed his weapons “Regardless of the danger we just faced, that was a rather amazin’ display of skill, Mister. You must have lots of experience fighting…” she said as she clung close to ehr guardian. “Aye, they have the same tactics as regular wolves from where I come from. Attack all together inna pack, but they lack the range that I do.” he said as he patted his holstered revolver.

“What in tarnation is goin’ on out here?! Apple Bloom?!” Shouted a deep but feminine voice that had the same kind of southern drawl as Apple Bloom did. Apple Bloom’s ears perked up at the sound of her sister’s voice before she called out in return “Applejack?! Ah am over here!” She called out, but did not leave Zargan’s side until she knew that it was safe to do so. Soon enough, Applejack came into view while holding an umbrella.

“Big sis!” Apple Bloom shouted before running forward and slamming into her sister’s side with a big hug. Applejack let out a big sigh of relief as she saw that her little sister was in one piece “Where have you been, girl?! We have been worried about you for hours now. What…happened here..?” she asked as she laid eyes on the corpses of the timber wolves, then her sight came upon Zargan who simply nodded and started to walk away.

“H-hey now! Wait a minute there, partner!” Applejack shouted as she reached out toward him “Where you goin’? You don’t think Ah am gonna let you walk away without so much as a thank you do you?” she said as she hoped he would stop. Zargan turned his head over his shoulder and smiled at the pair of ponies “The young lass is safe and she is with her family. That is good enough for me. Ya two be careful headin’ back now.” he said as he began making his way back to his home. “At least let me treat you to a home cooked meal! We have some amazing apple fritters cookin’ in the oven for dessert! Please, I insist!” Applejack shouted, Apple Bloom hoping that would be enough to convince her future master to join them.

“Apple…fritters? That actually sounds rather delightful…” he said to himself as he rubbed and stroked his beard. He smiled and turned around as he made his way over to the pair “Well, when ya tempt me with that kind of offer. How can I say no?” he said with a chuckle. Both ponies smiled as they all began to walk to the house, thankfully no more timber wolves had attacked them on their way back.

Author's Note

Gonna leave the prologue and first chapter as a little preview for now. If folks like this one, I will do more.

May the darkness grant you peace.

Act 2: A Rather Enjoyable Dinner

As Zargan and the two pony sisters walk into the house, the immediate smell of something sweet and refreshing hits the dwarf’s nose before the door closes behind him. He then looks around the home which had a rather cozy and rustic feel to it. Like it was a home off up in the mountains away from society. It made him feel rather homesick for a moment, but then he shook it off and followed the sisters into the room they were going to.

“Apple Bloom!” shouted two fillies who rushed their friend immediately upon seeing her. She gasped happily as her friends hugged her before she dragged them over to meet with her new mentor “Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, this is Zargan Runespear. He let me into his home when I got lost in the rain. Good thing too as there were timber wolves out there prowlin’ around when he was so kind enough to escort me back.` She said as she looked at the dwarf again “Mister Zargan, these are my two best friends in the whole world.”. Zargan offered his large hands out to the two fillies with a smile “Nice to meetcha, lasses. I hope ya two made it here okay. Those creatures out there were a nasty piece of work.”.

They both nodded “We were all three together on the way here, but then the rain just suddenly came down to the point where we could barely see in front of us…we are sorry we couldn’t find you, Ab..” Sweetie said as she lowered her head in shame. “Yeah…we are really sorry..” Said scootaloo as she shared the same stare at the floor. All was quiet for a moment before the dwarf stepped in “Easy there, little ones.There was nothin’ ya could do in this current downpour. What matters is that all three of ya are safe and sound now.” he said as he placed his hands on Apple Bloom’s and Sweetie’s shoulder.

“Girls, y’all go on up to Apple Bloom’s room for now. We will call you down when the stew is ready.” said Applejack as she jerked her head back towards Zargan to follow her into the kitchen. “Okay, sis. Come on girls, I gotta tell ya everything that just happened on the way here!” she said as she and her friends climbed the stairs. “Remember lass, take good care of that blade. Give her a proper name and she will never let ya down.” he said before heading into the kitchen.

As he made his way in, he took notice of a large and burly stallion and an elderly looking mare sitting at the table with smiles on their faces as they saw him enter. Applejack taking a seat next to the stallion as she motioned for him to come and join them at the table “Come on, partner. Don’t be shy now.” she said in a friendly tone before he nodded and climbed into the only empty chair. He then reaches to his side and behind him to place his hammer and revolver upon the table in front of him, showing them that he has nothing to hide.

The three of them stare at him in confusion when he does this “Ah..pardon me. A force of habit from where I come from. My kind believes in laying out our weapons as a sign of respect and honor when we sit and converse like this.” he said as he looked between the group. They look between each other for a moment before nodding in unison. “First off, I’d like to thank ya again personally for bringin’ my sister back home. With all the timber wolf corpses that had been laid out by your hand, Ah can only imagine what would have happened if you hadn’t been with her…Thank you, thank you…” Applejack said with bow of her head

Zargan shook his head with a soft smile before rubbing at his beard again “It was no trouble. I wasn’t gonna let the wee one go out in this weather under my watch.” he said as he looked to the other two ponies “Ah, this is my big brother Big Macintosh, but you can call him Big Mac for short.’ She said befor the quiet stallion reached out with his hand, the dwarf reached out to slap his hand and squeezed it, giving it a firm shake “Nice to meetcha, lad. You got yaself a fine grip there.” hen said as he looked up at the stallion who only smiled in response with a smile “Heheh…yep.”. Once the handshake was done, Big Mac nodded reassuringly to his sister before the dwarf’s attention was turned to the elderly mare who was eyeing Zargan like a hawk.

“Let me see them hands, mister!’ She said as she made a ‘gimme’ motion with her hands. The dwarf tilted his head slightly before hesitantly and carefully placing his large hands in front of the elderly mare. She takes each one of them in her hands and examines them closely “My goodness. You got some mitts on you don’tcha? And they look like they have seen more then plenty of hard work.” she said as she then looked upon his face “Well, I am a blacksmith and a miner. Then again, it comes with the territory of being a gray dwarf. We mainly live underground after all.” he explained.

“My my, a stallion of many hats, Ah see. And from what Ah can tell, your eyes have seen much. How old are ya, sonny?” she asked not really ready for his answer “I think…I will be turning one-hundred and ten within the next couple months? I honestly lost track at one-hundred.”. With that response, all three of their jaws dropped and their eyes widened at this response “Oh my sweet Celestia. Ah am so, so sorry for callin’ you sonny! You look like you are in your mid thirties or late twenties, even with such a well kept beard. Please forgive me, sir!” Granny Smith said as she bowed her head multiple times.

Zargan chuckled lightly before waving his hand dismissively “Don’t worry ya pretty head about it, lass. You could say that in dwarven terms, ya’d be right. I am still quite young in terms of my kind and how they age. I mean, we start growin’ our beards a few years after we are born. The fuller the beard, the more respect is given to a dwarf. But, having a beard isn;t enough. Ya gotta prove yaself in many other ways.”.

As he explained the ways of his people, he couldn’t help but notice that Mac was eyeing his hammer and revolver. The dwarf smiled before lifting his hammer up and twirling it one-handed “You wanna give it a try, lad?” He asked before he stood up and placed the hammer head down on the floor in the open space in the kitchen. The stallion’s face, which was normally soft, lit up with excitement before he made his way around the table and wrapped a hand tightly around the hilt of the hammer. He tries to pull it up with a regular amount of strength, then a bit more, then moves to a two handed grip. Zargan couldn;t help but chuckle at his struggling before reaching up and patting his back “Eeeassyyy, laddy. Dwarven weapons are tailored to the user’s specifics. If you’d like, I can forge ya one that’ll work for you. Just give me the design of your desires, and I can make it so.”.

He then watched his attention go to the revolver on the table before smiling at the stallion “aaah, this beauty right here is my latest pride and joy. While Mishka has been with me forever and ever, Vixen here is one of my latest creations. She has an eight round cylinder and her ammunition is my own magic. I push my mana into the grip of the revolver and it flows into the chambers, forming into highly concentrated ‘magic bullets’ and fires them at range. Since I can’t use magic spells, I create tools and weapons that are magically enhanced that can put my large amount of mana to use.” he said as he spun the cylinder of his revolver before flicking it back into place, squeezing the grip and letting the mana flow through the gun as the runes lit up brightly and the chambers filled up instantly.

Big Mac stared at the weapon in deep fascination. He wanted badly to try it out. But, thinking now wouldn’t be the best time to do so. He wasn’t the only one interested in that revolver either. It seems that his skills had drawn the attention of Applejack as well “Oh my…a stallion that can craft things all his own and not have to worry about others stealin’ his work. You got it all figured out, don;tcha?” she asked with a narrowed gaze and smile.

Zargan chuckled lightly before placing his weapons carefully back upon the table “Well, unfortunately, I did have a few thieves try and pillage my home earlier today. Sure, they were trying to steal some of my less finer work. But, I don’t take too kindly to thieves. They even thought to try and lay a hand on my smithing hammer. The absolute audacity.” he said before taking his seat back at the table.

The group continued to talk until it was time for dinner. Zargan watched as all three of them got up from the table and began preparing the food and dishes. Not one to just simply sit and watch, he took the bowls and plates to the table once Applejack had gotten them down from the cabinet. And even taking the silverware to the table as well “Well thank you kindly, Zargan. But you are our guest. You shouldn’t have to do that.” Applejack said as she smiled as she was happy he helped out anyway. “Naaah, it is no trouble at all. Besides, the faster we get it done, the faster everyone can fill their bellies.

He was right after all. Applejack didn’t realize it yet, gut the way he showed proper manners, he had respect for those he met, had an amazing work ethic and the fact that he didn’t take offense to Granny Smith’s mistake from earlier made her respect him quite a bit already. Maybe even more than respect. Little did she know that the more she learned about him over time, the more she would really grow to like him.

“Girls, come down and get somethin’ to eat! Food’s ready!” called out Applejack before the whole group now sat around the table and began to enjoy the food. “Oh Sweet mornin’, this veggie stew is wonderful…it would pair nicely with some mead.” he said as he reached into his bag and pulled out a large barrel with a spout on it before placing it on the corner of the table. He was about to pour himself a full tankard before he looked at the group who stared at him with wide eyes.

“Ah…sorry. Mead really shouldn’t be drunk around young ones. As it is an adult beverage.” he said before placing the barrel and tankard back into the bag. They all stand up quickly as they watched the barrel just vanish into the bag like it was nothing! “How in tarnation do you get that big thing to fit in that tiny bag?!” Ask Applejack in utter disbelief. Zargan chuckled lightly as he realized that is why they had the bugged eyes stare before answering “Another one of my creations. I call it the hammerspace bag. Or a bag of holding. It can hold many times at once no matter the size and the weight is fully manageable even for young ones.”.

They all sit down and continue to stare at Zargan while shaking their heads “You continue to impress me, Zargan. Ah can’t wait to see what other magical items that you have created and will create. While unicorns here can cast spells and such. I don’t believe anyone in the world has creations like yours. Not that I am aware of anyway.”.

As the dinner continued on, the rain finally stopped and the cloud began to fade, letting the latte afternoon sun shine freely upon the land. After Zargan had helped clean up and wash the dishes, he had decided it was time for him to return home. He didn;t want to stay any longer than he felt he was allowed to. “Thank you very much for the meal. You are a wonderful cook.” he said as he made his way to the door. “You…are leaving already? YOu can stay longer if you want to!” Applejack said as she rushed to the door to meet him.

He turned his head up to her and smiled warmly before holding his hand up in declination “That is rather sweet of ya, lass. But, I don;t want to impose on ya more than I already have. Thank ya for havin’ me here though. I enjoyed dessert as well. I would definitely not say no to another invitation should it be extended, however.” he said as he then opened the door and made his way out. “It’s a date then!” said Applejack as she leaned out the door and waved him off.

Zargan made his way through the orchard and back to his underground home. He was ready to hang up his weapons for the day and crawl into bed. He still had to make chambers to add on to his new home after all. So tomorrow, he was going to get ol’ Bianca and Rosa out to work once more. It was going to be quite the busy day indeed.

As he made his way toward the trap door, the mana reader on his right gauntlet began to go crazy. It hadn’t gone off like this since he had picked up that statue and fallen into this world. It wasn’t until he heard something, or rather someone flying down toward him. Thinking quickly, he leapt back and crossed his arms in front of himself as a magically reinforced dome appeared over him, then another, then another. Whatever was heading towards him was about to hit him hard. Would his shield be able to hold it back?m Just in case it couldn't, a full-sized tower shield seemed to materialize out of nowhere and latched onto his right arm before he put all his weight into it, digging his feet into the ground firmly.

And soon enough, whoever it was made full impact with his shields, instantly shattering the first two layers, but the last one and the shield itself remained unphased. After the flying dirt had finally settled, Zargan peeked around his shield with an arched brow before his eyes laid upon a rather large amazon of a woman. Her mane and tail everflowing with a spectrum of colors and her beautiful purple eyes now gaze down at the dwarf.

“Oi, lass! You gotta be careful where ya land! You coulda really hurt yaself or me!” henshouted in annoyance before he dropped the last barrier, but kept the tower shield up. Little did he know that he was addressing one of the two rules of this land. And no one has ever talked to her in such a manner before…

Author's Note

Will do one more chapter after this one, then focus back on The Voodoo King

May the darkness grant you peace.

Act 3: Celestia Comes To Visit The Dwarf

A long silence between Zargan and Celestia hung in the air for what felt like an eternity. It wasn’t until the dwarf stepped out from the tower shield he had hidden behind that he pointed an accusatory finger at her “Oi, ya listenin? You gotta be more careful when it comes to makin’ ya landins’. Otherwise ya are gonna cause trouble for everyone involved. And I don’t think ya want that, lass.” he said as he now stood in front of her, his eyes gazing up into hers as he didn’t seem phased by her rather staggering height one single bit.

Celestia continued to eye him before crossing her arms under her rather large bust. The alicorn looks over his foreign features before she begins to speak “You will have to forgive my rather abrupt entry, sir. I was told by a certain individual that a rather large and terrifying monster levied around in this area. And that their employees were nearly killed by this so-called monster. Though, from what I see, you appear to be no taller than a foal… height-wise anyway. Your physique however seems rather impressive.” she said in a matter of factly tone

Zargan blinked a few times “A monster? Nearly killed them? What do ya-...really? I prevented some thieves from makin’ off with some of my work and they go and complain to their boss who then complains to ya? Spineless bastards.” he said as he spits on the ground before turning his attention back to Celestia “If ya must know, they sent their folks into my home to steal from me. And if ya want the proof, I got it for ya right here.” he said as he jumped up and grabbed her hand, yanking her down to his level before he reached into his bag and pulled out what appeared to be a smooth crystal slab of sorts.

The princess arched her brow in curiosity as she was about to interrupt him from what he was doing since he was being a little rougher with her than how most would even dare. But, it wasn’t until he clicked on a few runes on the slab that moving images came upon the crystal. And just as he had said, she was watching four hooded ponies running around in his home taking whatever weapons and armor they could carry. She could even hear the audio coming out of the slab. It wasn’t until she heard the loud bang of his revolver and the scream of pain from the first pony he shot that she came out of her focus.

“What did you do to them…?” she asked as she watched the magic bullet put a hole in the pony’s hand. “I do believe I was protectin’ what is mine, lass. Ya don’t break into a man’s home and try and steal his valuables. Ya know?” he said as he continued to show her the footage before he cut it off whenever they ran out of the underground lair. He places the slab back into his bag and then turns his attention back to the princess once more before lifting his arms up in a shrug ‘Well, there ya have it. Undeniable proof. Now, can I go inside my home and get some shut-eye? It’s been a long day and I am ready to sleep if ya don’t mind.”.

He had Celestia in a rather tight spot. She had come here to get his side of the story. And boy, did she get it. She literally saw the event play out from his point of view. As the screen showed what had happened from his eyes, most likely a form of memory view magic. While she was rather impressed with that kind of technology mixed with magic, she had what she needed for now and nodded to him “Thank you for showing me this, sir. The pony in question was someone of high nobility I had trusted greatly…seems that I must deal with them accordingly. And as you were defending your home, you will not be charged with injuring those who wrongfully tried to take from you.” she said as she bowed her head slightly “I am sorry for my subjects’ behavior.”.

Zargan blinked a few times before he took notice of the crown on top of her head as she bowed her head. He placed his hands up in front of him before chuckling nervously “Its no problem at all, m’ady. Sorry I was so rough with ya earlier. Its just been a long day and I’d like to get back to my home where I can find a bit of peace for the evenin’ is all.” he said as he looked back at the trap door entryway.

Celestia nodded multiple times in understanding “Yes, of course. But before you go. Could I…maybe as a favor?” she asked as she fidgeted with her hands in front of her as he turned his head up at her with an arched brow “Hm? What’s on ya mind?” he asked in response. “Would…you let me come in sometime and see what was so impressive that they went to such lengths to take? If your craftsmanship is that superb, I’d like to see for myself. If that is okay with you, of course.”.

Zargan stroked his beard in thought as he looked her over “Well, while I have no issue with ya comin’ to take a look, gettin’ in might prove difficult for ya. Ya aren’t exactly short enough to fit through the corridor that leads into the main chamber. Though, I suppose I could drill a bit more so ya could wiggle ya way down.” he said as he continued to stroke his beard. “It would also give me time to clean the place up a bit. Never had royalty visit my home after all….”

Celestia formed a smile upon her muzzle as she was containing excitement, keeping her royal poise “How does…four days sound? Will that give you plenty of time to prepare?” she asked. Of course, she would give him more time if he needed it. “Aye, that'll be enough. Come by the fifth mornin’. I am usually up bright and early anyways.” he said before making his way to his door and opening it “Nice meeting you by the way, princess. Even though it was rather sudden.” he said before he descended into the darkness, the door slamming closed behind him before the lock was heard sealing it shut.

Over the next few days, Celestia had kept her word in taking care of the noble in question along with their employees and locked them up in the dungeon under the castle. While it only took Zargan just a couple of days to do his planned expansion, he was spending the rest of those days mainly enjoying the peace and quiet while also working on a rather big project of his that he couldn’t wait to complete. It was a weapon of great power, at least something that this world had never experienced anyway.

The morning finally came when Zargan had expected company. While he did clean up MOST of his dwelling, there were things he couldn’t move, or rather chose not to as he preferred a little organized chaos. He was standing at his workbench where he had his more modern tools set up, wrenches, streamline gammers, screwdrivers, a blow torch, anything that could havdle his more technological creations. He even had a smithing visor over his face.

He was in the middle of using his blow torch to weld something together, the sparks flying about as he was rather engrossed in his work. It wasn’t until a chime went off and a crystal was on the wall that started to glow and flicker slowly. Seems that there was someone at the door, a little something he whipped up for a bit of added security in the time between visits. He placed the blow torch down next to his project before running his hand along its smooth long barrel “Daddy will be right back, Ignia.” he said before hanging up his smithing visor on the workbench and began to make his way toward the door.

As he unlocked the door and flipped it open, he was greeted by Celestia who was accompanied by several of her royal guards. Zargan arched a brow in confusion before looking up at her “Ya can come in, but they stay out here. I don’t trust them.” he said as he stood firmly on this decision. While the guards weren’t happy with his words, Celestia held up a hand with a nod “It is his home after all. Please wait here until I return. I will be fine.” she said as she began the descent into the darkness, the door slamming once more and locking. Her guards really didn;t like that.

While Celestia had to duck a little bit to make it through the corridor, she was able to get into the main chamber with no issue. “I am afraid I don’t have much in the ways of proper hospitality. But, I can get ya some water and sweet bread if ya get hungry…unless you’d like to try some mead instead. Though, I don’t think ya could handle such a strong beverage. Dwarven mead hits folks pretty hard.” he said as he then pointed to the large wall of weapons and armor “Feel free to browse till ya heart’s content. If you wish to view my finer work, that is behind the forge on the wall there. But DO NOT try to lift any of those on that wall, you will not be able to.” he said before he went back to his workbench and resumed working.

Celestia listened to his words carefully before nodding and making ehr way over to the wall rather excitedly as the greatswords are what caught her eye first. Never before had she seen such long and broad blades in her entire life! She wasn’t even sure if she could lift one. She brings up both hands to the large hilt before trying to lift it off the hooks that held it up on the wall. While she was able to hold it, lifting it up properly;y was a challenge all of its own “Hmmm, definitely not for me…” she said as she carefully placed the sword back onto the wall.

While she was gazing at the other weapons, Zargan had finally finished his new creation, a smile forming across his lips as he wiped the sweat from his forehead “You are finally finished, my dear Ingia. Let’s see what you can do with that runestone and extra range I put on ya.” he said before he grabbed the weapon with both hands. He then turned around to reveal a heavy flamethrower. A sleek futuristic design but is also very fantasy-looking at the same time. He squeezed the grip hard as he pushed the mana through and into the tank, the weapons lighting up and making a ‘wrrrrrrrr’ sound as he made his way over to the firing range that he had created.

Celestia’s gaze shifted to the dwarf as she heard the sound from..whatever that monster was in his hands as he now stood in front of a pole which had some rather banged up armor sitting atop it. Once he was ready, her slowly but firmly squeezed the trigger, the flame at the end of the barrel spitting to lift before the runes on the weapon glowed brightly as the near thirty-foot length ice-y blue flame roared out of the barrel. He smiled a large, toothy smile as he yelled with excitement, laughing almost manically as he continued to absolutely demolish the armor in front of him. “Yes, yes! Burn it down, Ignia!” he said as he praised his weapon like it was his own daughter.

Celestia’s eyes widened in shock and horror at the display of power that this small being had created. It was literally like having the power of a dragon in his hands! The shock had been so great that she fell back onto her rear and scooted back against the wall. “If he can create things like that…Faust only knows what else..” she whispered to herself. “I MUST Have him. He’d make an excellent addition to my forces. If I don’t get him…sompony else might.” she said to herself again before slowly making her way back up on her hooves.

As he emptied the tank of mana, the weapon slowly died down before it went silent. He makes his way back to the workbench before looking at the even further destroyed armor which had a massive hole burned into its side and front. He placed a hand on his weapon and gently stroked it “Ya did wonderful, lassy. Ya will serve me quite well. Daddy will give ya a nice clean here in a little bit when he doesn’t have guests over. For now, I will put ya in the weapon space.” he said as he placed a hand on his new toy before it disappeared into a soft blue light.

Once he had finished cleaning up his workbench, he noticed that Celestia had finally made her way over to the wall behind his forge. He walked over to her as he noticed her eyes were on a rather particular sword. A large broad sword with runes carved into the blade all the way down to its tip, the hilt carved out of elderwood which was excellent more magic conduction and the metal being nothing less than mithril. While the blade itself was simple in design, the hand guard was decorated heavily with jewels and gold that shone brightly in the forge light, the guard itself a curling pair of feathered wings.

“Aaaah, ya like that one, do ya?” He asked as he came up next to her and pulled it off the wall like it was light as a feather. “This little beauty here was my first real masterpiece when I was much younger. I call her ‘Garuda, Maiden Of The Wind’. Let me show ya why.” he said as he then forced some mana into the hilt, a whirlwind forming around the blade before he swung it firmly at the armor he had burned, the sharp wind flying forward and completely splitting what was left in two.

Celestia watched in utter amazement as she saw the display happen before her eyes. It was definitely settled now. She had to get in this dwarf’s good graces and make her his. Well, as in her blacksmith for her forces anyway. “My goodness…I can see why they were after your work now. Though, if you consider the superb work on the wall behind us your less finer work…I can only imagine what you have here. And that weapon you had earlier..I have never ever seen anything like it. It was like…you had the power of a dragon in your hands. Terrifyingly impressive.” she said as she could feel her heart beating heavily in her chest.

Zargan chuckled before placing the sword back onto the wall with great care. Celestia continued to stare at the other weapons before she let out a huff, placing her hand over her chest before squeezing her fist tight ”Just ask him..the worse he can say is no!” she thought to herself. She then turned to him, giving him a serious, but hopeful look.

“I have a proposition for you. One that could benefit both of us, if you will hear me out. Please.”

Author's Note

Alrighty, back to The Voodoo King now!

May the darkness grant you peace.

Act 4: The Real Fun Begins...

Zargan looked over at the alicorn princess as he noticed that her tone became far more serious than what it was before when she had asked him that question.. The dwarf could sense that she was going to ask something big of him. And he was ready for it “Very well. Speak ya piece.” he said as he leaned his back against the weapon wall as he waited for her to ask what she wanted to ask him. The dwarf’s face became serious as well.

“Well, I was hoping that you would become a smith for my kingdom.I would be happy to accommodate a smith with such high qualifications as yourself. Even give you a residency within Canterlot, which is the capital city of our fair land. And I can promise you that you’d be handsomely compensated for all your hard work. How does that sound?” she asked as she kept a straight face, but was hoping on the inside that this would sound like a rather wonderful deal to the dwarf.

The dwarf rubbed his beard in thought for what felt like the longest time before looking back up at her as he crossed his arms “And would this deal involve only exclusively creating for ya kingdom alone? Because if that is the case, I am afraid that is a deal breaker for me, lass. While I do enjoy taking work, I am afraid that my exclusivity days are long gone. As the kingdom I served doesn't exist in this world. And my people are honor-bound to serve the kingdom they were born in. Unless certain circumstances arise. But those do not qualify in this situation. However, if ya can live without exclusivity, I would be happy to work out a deal that is more befittin’.” he said as he waited for her to answer back.

Celestia’s heart dropped as she wasn’t hoping he'd ask about being exclusive. Seems that this dwarf knew his stuff. A shrewd man indeed. “I was hoping that you would be exclusive, actually. That is quite a shame. But, I can understand where you are coming from. After all, it would be wrong of me to ask that of you when you aren’t even from our world. Perhaps one day you can tell me how you ended up here. But for now, let us continue with our deal. The best I can do for you at this point, is offer you an open plot for you to build your shop and forge in. It would be a small plot, but I am sure that you would manage somehow.” she said as she now stood in front of him.

Zargan chuckled gruffly before offering out his hand to her “I want this deal in writin’. Understand, lass? And I demand the official document once everythin’ has been settled and taken care of. You get me that plot of land within the city, I will take care of the rest. The materials, the building, everythin’.” he said as he waited for her to take his hand. There was something about this that was giving her a rather uneasy feeling. Like she was getting the shorter end of the stick here. But she wasn’t going to pass up on a deal and risk losing access to his work. While it wouldn’t be exclusive, he would be within easy access at least.

“You have a deal, Mister…?” she asked as she realized she never even asked his name. “Zargan Runespear, at ya service, m’lady,” he said as they both shook hands firmly. It wasn’t exactly what she wanted, but this was close enough. Little did she know that she had played right into the dwarf’s hands. While she gave him a small plot of land, she didn’t say anything about expanding underground. And boy, was he going to expand. Not to mention, he was finally going to get good use out of one of his new toys he had worked on a long time ago, but never had a use for.

–Several Weeks Later–

After the official document was in his hands, Zargan rubbed his hands together after setting up a construction barrier around his little plot of land that was in the shopping district. The open lot itself had room for a small shop at best, but that wasn’t going to be enough for him to work. Not in the slightest. Zargan began his work by digging down and outward once he hit a specific level, making sure that the buildings around him wouldn’t start to sink and lose their support, even adding wooden beams for extra support on the walls. Luckily, the underside of the land was entirely made of solid stone. So he had plenty to work with.

Once he had finished with the whole layout of the inner chamber, he began to fine-tune the walls and stairs to make everything look pretty and appealing to his potential customers. Even building a lift on the ground level to haul in big orders and receive large deliveries. The lift only operated from his magic alone, so potential thieves couldn’t use it to get in. And on the ground level, there was a simple small building that served as the entryway to the stairs that led down into the main chamber which was the shop itself.

The chamber itself split off into several rooms. One was his actual work room where the forge, anvil, and workbench was placed. The other was a cozy living quarters with a magic cooking stove and furnace powered by fire rune stones he had carved himself. A lounging couch and a nice comfy bed to complete the room. But, what he was most proud of was the empty doorway that sat in the back of the room. Why is he so proud of it one may ask? Well, there was a rune stone of greater distance teleportation at the top of the threshold of the doorway. All he had to do was push some mana through the wooden entry and a portal would appear and take him back to his underground home on the outskirts of Ponyville.

A few more days passed as he began building the main chamber’s furniture now. A nice mahogany counter where he’d keep his best products hung on the wall behind it. And a couple of tables for his guests to sit at whenever he’d take their commissions. And of course, racks to hang his lesser work on. Basic armor and weapons folks could come in and buy off those very same racks, even stuffing a few barrels full of basic swords and such.

After he puts on the final touches that concern the furniture, he gets to work on improving his toy that he finally had a use for. Or rather, toys. He ventures out into the mountainous area of Equestria and begins to do a little bit of mining, coming back with quite a load of what appears to be similar to mithril ore after having spent a couple of days digging and camping out in the mine he had made. There was no way he was gonna tell anyone about the vein he had struck while down there. Once he had everything he needed for his creations he stood in front of his workbench before cracking the biggest smile in the world

He slammed down his blueprint onto the workbench with a hardy laugh. He begins assembling piece after piece of what appeared to be a golem made out of the mithril ore he had collected and refined into the necessary shape and pieces to create the dolls in his vision. However, he had to make a few alterations. These beauties were going to be voluptuous yet muscular warrior mares dressed up in skimpy maid outfits. They were both going to tend to his shop and be his security all in one.

He smiled the whole time as he put these beautifully crafted girls together, making sure that every single part was well crafted and maintained so they could operate at maximum efficiency. The sound of his blow torch setting off sparks and the turn of screws and bolts from his wrench and the pounding of his hammer echoed throughout the underground for all to hear above as he was in his happy place the whole time while creating these new automatons.

After putting the finer details and finishing touches on his new toys, he places a few runes in…certain places so that those places bounce and jiggle like natural supple flesh would before placing an instill life rune on their foreheads. Once he did that, he placed his hands on their chests before dumping a massive load of mana into their bodies. Enough mana for them to last at least three years before they’d need another charge-up. With a sudden jolt, his girls came to life before sitting up from where they lay, their movements as fluid as any human thanks to the parts that Zargan had worked so hard to create.

Zargan stood there with his hands on his hips as he nodded in approval at his work before falling back into a chair with a tired smile “Welcome to life, ladies. Ya will do quite well to help me in my endeavors to be sure.” The automatons bowed deeply to Zargan before responding to him with soft and alluring voices “Of course, master~. We live to serve you and only you.” they said as they soon approached Zargan and leaned forward “What do would you ask of us..?” they asked with hopeful wide eyes.

Zargan smiled before getting up from his chair and walking over to the portal entryway. He activates the rune before the portal appears and motions for them to walk through “You will find your posts here on the other side of this portal. The cleaning supplies are in the back room. Just make sure the place looks tidy. And take a weapon of your choosing from the wall here before you pass through. You ladies are gonna be the security as well. And I am sure you can handle it all when I am not around.”.

All six of them nodded in agreement before taking a weapon of their liking. A couple went with heavy weapons while another couple went with quick and light weapons and the last two went with something a bit more balanced. Zargan decided to give them full autonomy so that they could grow and learn on their own. After all, he wanted them to have their own personality. But, he instilled a failsafe mechanism that he could activate at any time should they go rogue.

As he watched them go through the portal, he followed after them. He then makes his way over to the counter and stands there looking over at his new shop, quite proud that he had done this all by himself. “Hmmmm, now all I need is a name…” he said to himself as he rubbed his beard in deep thought while he racked his brain for a fitting name. He then snapped his fingers before coming up with one “The Gray Storm Forge.” he said as he nodded to himself “Yeah, that has a nice ring to it.”. A few hours after that decision, he stood in front of his place of business with a sigh that he had made up for himself by asking for a bit of help to write out the words for his shop’s name. He was definitely going to have to learn this world’s written language for sure.

“I will open for business in the next couple of days. I do believe I have earned a rest after all this. Time to head back home.” he said as he made his way down the stairs, locking the door behind him and making sure it was secure. It was more for the would-be intruder’s sake. If they somehow got through the heavy metal door, they had six deadly warrior mares below waiting for them after all.

As he made his way to the portal, he could already see that his automatons had already settled into their roles nicely “Keep up the good work, ladies. I will come by to check on you all tomorrow. Alright?”. They all turn to Zargan and bow deeply to him “Be safe on your travels, master. We will take good care of the shop in your stead.”. Zargan nodded in approval, giving them a thumbs up “You ladies stay safe. Ya hear? If ya run into trouble, just reach me through the portal. You ladies got plenty of mana to come through and get me.”.

They all six smile at him “Your concern is appreciated, Master. But, we will be fine. You can count on us.” He nodded again before stepping through the portal, finally making his way home for the next couple of days. He makes his way to his living room with a tankard full of mead in one hand and a venison and cheese sandwich in the other. He kicks off his boots and socks before wiggling his toes and reclining back in his favorite chair as he enjoys his quiet evening.

Zargan woke the next day, got a nice hot bath and a fresh change of clothes and made his way out of his underground home, and decided that he would take a trip into the town that he had lived near for the last month and a half, but never decided to visit. After all, he needed to get his face known now. How else was he going to start making that sweet, sweet coin? Money is very important to a dwarf after all. He slides on his boots and his cloak before grabbing Mishka and Vixen. He places them on their respective spots on his belt before stepping outside into the sunlight, ready to enjoy his day of relaxation.

As Zargan walked the streets of Ponyville, he was surprised at how friendly the ponies were towards him. They waved and smiled to the dwarf who in turn waved and smiled back. It seemed that these ponies were far more down-to-earth and welcoming than the ones in Canterlot. Most of the ponies there turned their noses up at him. Such a rough and unkept creature to them. But, it would seem that the ponies here were far more curious about this dwarf rather than offended by him.

It wasn't until the dwarf saw a pink blur heading his direction that he activated a small dome field around him quickly just enough to barely fit him. The pony moved so quickly that he couldn’t make it any bigger in time if he decided to make a full-sized one. He looked up at the pleasantly plush mare who had a mane like cotton candy. She pressed against the forcefield with a big smile on her face as her blue eyes gazed down at him “Hiiiiiiiii!~” she said as she started to paw at the forefield “C’mon. Open up, little guy! Gimme a hug!” she chirped. “Little guy..? Now listen here, lass. I may be small, but I can toss ya into the forest from here if I so choose to.”he said as he crossed his arms as he feigned being offended by the mare’s words. But, deep down, he knew that she was just being friendly. She seemed to be radiating warmth after all. Another possible new friend for the dwarf? Who knows.

Author's Note

I had fun with the second half of this chapter. The right music really does set the mood.

May the darkness grant you peace.

Act 5: Zargan's First Customer

Zargan continued to stare up at the pink mare who seemed rather desperate to find her way through his forcefield that he had barely been able to bring up before she collided with it. Somehow, this mare was even faster than the princess who had broken through two of his shield domes just a few days ago. Then again Pinkie Pie was an…odd sort of girl. Rules of reality sometimes didn’t apply to her actions.

“C’moooooon, lemme iiiiinnn!” she whined as she pawed at the dome like a cat trying to reach a bird on the other side of a window. Zargan tilted his head to the side as he watched her behavior. She seemed like she didn’t mean any harm. But, at the same time, he didn't really know her all that well “Look, lass. It's rather sweet of ya to go around just offerin’ hugs and such. But, you shouldn’t just be doin’ that to any stranger ya see. That could pose trouble for both parties. And ya wouldn’t want that would ya?” he asked as he watched her sulk a bit as he explained.

“However, I am willing to start with a handshake if that will make you happy. Now, I am going to lower this shield. Are ya goin’ to be a good girl?” he asked as he hovered his finger over his gauntlet. For some reason, the pony lowered herself onto her knees as if she were a canine sitting in front of her master before nodding rapidly. Zargan blinked a few times at the odd action. Nonetheless removed his shield and held out his hand. The pink mare smiled widely before taking the large hand into both of hers and shaking it firmly “Nice to meet you! I am Pinkie Pie! I like to make friends with everyone I meet and throw parties for them!” she said as she started to vibrate with excitement.

Zargan had expected the other ponies around them to stare at the kneeling pony with confusion. But, they all just kept about their business. She must have quite the reputation of being an oddball, so they considered her actions normal at this point. Zargan released his hand from her grip before responding to her “My name is Zargan Runespear. A pleasure to meet ya, lass.” he said as he now stared up at her as she got back to her hooves.

As the two walked and talked, the was a scream off in the distance before a masked stallion came running through the crowd of ponies with a purse in his hand. Zargan hated pickpockets and thieves more than anything. If you didn’t earn your money through work, he had no respect for you at all. He then reached behind him and pulled his revolver from his belt before casually unloading two rounds into the back of the pony’s knees. Luckily for the pony, the rounds didn’t cause any major damage. There were going to be some large bruises for sure, but Zargan decided not to use a lethal amount of mana this time.

The pony cried out in pain before falling to the ground and dropping the purse. The dwarf walks over to the groaning stallion and simply looks down at him with disdain in his eyes “If ya need money so bad, get a job and stick with it.” he simply said before picking up the purse and returning it to the mare who had caught up to them “Here ya are.” he said as he held it out to her. The mare thanked Zargan profusely, the dwarf holding up his hands with a smile as he told her the thanks weren’t necessary.

Pinkie Pie watched all this happen before her. And it made her quite happy to see such a selfless deed done for someone who was a stranger to the dwarf. She knew he was going to like him straight away. Zargan placed his gun back into its holster before looking up at Pinkie who was smiling widely at him. The dwarf arched a brow in confusion before asking “What?”. Pinkie giggled and shook her head “Oooh nothing. Not the way I would have handled things. But, at least you did it with minimal damage.”.

Zargan shrugged his shoulders a bit “Don’t think of me as some kind of hero or do-gooder, lass. I simply don’t abide by folks stealin’ what they haven’t earned. You don’t deserve the reward if ya haven’t worked for it.” he said as he and Pinkie continued walking along the street, just conversing about random things at this point.

As they walked along getting to know one another, Zargan’s gauntlet started beeping and flashing blue before he lifted it up and a small crystal slab embedded in it showed a moving image of what appeared to be someone skulking around his new shop. It appeared to be someone in rather fine looking royal armor who looked to be a rather young stallion. He looks up at the pink mare “I need to go and take care of some business, my dear. It was a pleasure to meet ya.” he said as he headed right back home.

The stallion paced around in circles as he rubbed his chin in thought. He had knocked on the door a few times but no answer had been given in return. He huffed slightly before he waited a few minutes more before reaching up to knock once more. But suddenly, the metal slit in the door slid sideways before a pair of glowing blue eyes looked out at him, giving him a bit of a startle “Whatcha need, lad?” Zargan asked as he looked the stallion up and down.

“Good afternoon, sir. I was told by somepony that this was a new blacksmith, and one of your specialties was weapons. Would you by chance be taking any commissions at this time? If not, then maybe fix up my current sword?” he asked as he took out his blade that rested on his hip and held it up. Zargan took a look over the blade without saying anything. He simply closes the slit and unlocks the door before opening it and welcoming the stallion in “Follow me, we will get her lookin like she came right off the anvil.” he said as he waited for the stallion to come in before locking the door behind them.

The stallion followed Zargan down the stairs and into the main chamber where he noticed the six female golems going about and maintaining the place. His eyes looked at the very well detailed life-like quality of the moving structures. “Are..these your creations, sir?” he asked before he was caught staring at the curvaceous golems by the dwarf, the stallion blushing hard at the embarrassment. Zargan chuckled lightly before standing at his workstation “Aye, these beauties are my latest reactions. I still need to give them proper names. After all, I want them to have their own individuality. Now then bring me your sword, son.”

The stallion nodded before handing the weapon to the dwarf handle first. The dwarf’s eyes thoroughly scanned over the blade as he let out a few thoughtful ‘hmmmmm’s before placing the blade atop the anvil “Might I enquire as to who ya smith was for this weapon?” he asked as he picked up his smithing hammer. “It was one of the castle smiths who made it. It was made for my promotion to the royal guard captain,” he said as he watched Zargan raise his hammer, only to bring it down with great force and shatter the whole sword into hundreds of pieces.

The stallion’s face went from intrigue to horror as he watched his blade shatter into many pieces. The dwarf shook his head before sweeping the remnants of the blade off his anvil, one of the golems coming by to scoop up the mess and toss it into the trash “What in the name of Celestia have you done?!” the stallion shouted in anger and shock and he placed his hands atop his head. The dwarf pointed his hammer at the stallion “Settle down, boy. If ya took one swing in combat with that cheap piece of metal, it would have shattered on impact just like this. That thing had so many flaws in its structure that I couldn’t even pity it.”.

Zargan walks up to the stallion and yanks the sheath from the stallion’s hip before making his way back to the forge and placing a couple of mithril ingots on the table next to the sheath “Come back in a couple of days, I will have something far, far superior to that piece of shite you call a sword.” he said as he placed one of the ingots on the anvil before he began hammering away on it. “I can’t just leave without a sword! What in the hay am I supposed to do if something happens?!” shouted the stallion as he was starting to freak out.

Zargan pointed his hammer to the wall of weapons “One hundred bits for a weapon of your choice. That can be your replacement until you get this one finished. Don't worry, any of those is fifty times better than what you came in here with. I promise.” he said as he didn’t even look up from his work. The stallion huffed before making his way toward the wall and picked up a broadsword similar to the style that he had originally come into the store with. He removed the sword from its sheath and gazed over the blade.

At first, he just thought it to be an ordinary sword just like any other. But once he gazed upon its detail, he noticed that the metal quality was far more pure and strong than anything he had ever laid eyes on. He even performed the bending test on it. It withheld its straightness with no issues whatsoever. If this was something that was just hung on a wall, the stallion could only imagine what the dwarf was making for him now.

The stallion walked towards the countertop that one of the golems stood behind while still watching Zargan work. He reached into his coin pouch and passed off the money to the golem before making his way out, giving the dwarf one last look as one of the other golems escorted him out. “Your master certainly is a rather odd one isn’t he..?” he asked the golem, not really expecting her to answer back. “They said that the eccentric ones are the most intelligent in their own right. But, he is my master. And he brought my sisters and me to life. And we love him for that.”.

–Two Days Later–

The stallion returned at the time requested by Zargan. This time, he was greeted by one of the golems when he knocked on the door and was let in. As he made his way down into the main chamber, Zargan had just wiped down the blade thoroughly to give it a proper shine before turning to face the stallion with a proud smile “Here she is, lad. Take good care of her. Ya here?” he said as he slid the blade into the sheath he had taken off the stallion when he came in before.

The stallion took the sword in both hands before slowly pulling out the blade and starting to examine it thoroughly. He was amazed at its craftsmanship…the straight and sharpened age, the tang of the blade, and its balance were pure perfection. He walked out into an open area and gave the blade a few test swings. It felt so right in his hands like the blade was literally meant just for him.

“This feels so light…but it is so sturdy. The smithy at the castle has never come across metal this superior before…” he said as he looked over at Zargan who was busy cleaning up his workstation. Zargan simply shrugged his shoulders at first but then looked at the stallion with a side eye and large grin “Aaaah, but quality like that comes at a price, lad/ Should you ever need any maintenance done with ya new weapon, I am afraid I am the only one who can help ya. A little insurance policy and a safeguard should it somehow ever fall into the wrong hands…or you try to sell it.” he said as he glared at the stallion.

“Are you kidding me?! No way I am letting anyone else have this fine piece of metal!” he said as he clutched it to his chest in a defensive manner. Zargan smiled warmly at that before he motioned the stallion over “By the way, young one. I need to make sure that yablade cannot be stolen from ya. Bring it here, please.” he said as he now stood at his workbench. The stallion nodded before handing the sword back to Zargan before he carved his own signature rune on the blade.

Once he finishes carving the rune, he motions the stallion to stand closer “Put ya hand on the hilt.” he said before placing his hand on top of the stallion’s once he did it. Zargan closed his eyes before he opened them back up, pushing mana into the sword and through the stallion which gave the pony a rather light shock throughout his body. Once the process was complete, the dwarf removed his hand from his and smiled up at him “Congrats, lad. Ya weapon is now soulbound to ya. The only folks who can use this beauty are either ya or me. The other would may as well be liftin’ a mountain if they tried to.” he said as he then went back to cleaning up his forge.

The stallion looked at his new weapon with awe. Something so incredible was made for him, and only him. “I imagine that this is going to set me back quite a bit, isn’t it? Then again, with this kind of quality, I will gladly pay you what you ask,” he said before placing the sword lovingly back into its sheath. The dwarf thought about it for a moment before waving his hand dismissively “Ya are my first customer and the captain of the royal guard. I think ya have earned that weapon. Simply let everyone else know what I did for ya and direct them towards me should they ask about it. You will be able to pay it off that way. Do we have a deal?” he asked as he held his gloved hand out. The stallion grabs Zargan’s hand firmly before shaking it multiple times “You got yourself a deal, sir! You will have so many customers that you won’t ever have to worry about money ever again! Thank you so, so much!” he said as he started to make his way out the door quickly before turning back around “Sir, I never did get your name. What was it?” he asked. “I am called Zargan Runespear. A pleasure to meetcha. And yours, lad?”.

“Shining Armor, sir. And it is an honor to meet such an amazing blacksmith such as yourself.” he said before disappearing up the stairs.

Author's Note

Not much to say here for today. Enjoy though!

May the darkness grant you peace.

Act 6: The Dwarf Takes To The Skies

It was just another lovely day in Ponyville as Zargan walked along the outer skirts of the small town. He wasn’t really heading anywhere special, he was just out enjoying the day. Ever since he had come to this world, the harsh environment that he was used to when he wasn’t underground seemed a thing of the past compared to this. The weather was a perfect balance of warm yet comfortable most days. Not drastically changing like where he had come from.

As he walked along, he heard the sound of flapping wings overhead. Hios lifts his gaze to the sky to see several pegasi flying over. They smile down at him and offer a wave as they pass over, the dwarf nodding in greeting before flicking his hand from his forehead before he continues on his walk. It must have been pretty fun to be able to fly. He could only imagine the view of the world from that high up. It wasn’t until the gears started turning in his mind that he suddenly blurted out loudly “I HAVE AN IDEA!!” before he started running back to his home as fast as his little legs could carry him.

Once he was back in his home and at his forge, he gathered up all the necessary ore and began refining it into many small but complicated pieces, carving certain magical runes into every little piece before meticulously placing them together. The project was taking him about a few days to complete minus the time he was spending at his new shop. The dwarf hardly ever slept during those past few days as his idea had kept him going until he had finally finished his latest project.

It wasn’t until he had placed the final piece upon his new toy that he fell back onto the floor in front of his workbench and let out a tired, but happy sigh “Finally, it is done…” he said as his vision started to darken, his eyes slowly drooping as sleep had finally claimed him after being up for so long. Little did he know that the lack of sleep would have him out for at least a full day. But, it was worth completing his new toy.

As he slowly opened his eyes, he heard a soft and rather pleasant humming from above him. His vision slowly started to unblur before he noticed a face staring down at him from above a rather large pair of breasts “Ah, you have finally awakened, master. We were starting to worry you may have fallen ill.” said the golem who now had Zargan’s head resting in her lap. Her thighs were so warm and soft, just like real supple and smooth flesh. Amazing what the Instill life rune can do to constructs

He sat up and rubbed his eyes with a big yawn and stretch before smiling back at the golem sleepy “Thank ya for comin’ to check on me, my dear. But, no need to worry. I think I just overworked myself a little bit is all. How goes the storefront?” he asked before standing up and walking over to a sink before turning on the water. He cups his hands for a moment as the water fills up his hands before splashing it on his face, letting the cold water wake him up fully before he washes up a bit.

“All is operating at optimal levels, master. We have been keeping to store maintained and clean as instructed,” she said as she stood up from the kneeling position she was in when he had his head in her lap. She made her way over to the workbench and she looked at the rather interesting new contraption that he had built/ It looked like some kind of suit of armor, but light and flexible at the same time. Zarggan made his way back to his workbench as he saw the golem looking over his new toy “Aaaah, ya like what I got there, lass?” he asked as he stood next to her.

“Are you making another to add to our ranks, master?” she inquired, her core starting to feel a little funny at the idea of another construct secretly fighting for their master’s attention. Thankfully for them, that wasn’t the case..yet. “Nah, this is something I came up with just a few days ago, actually. It's a form of light magical armor that grants the power of flight. It uses the wearer’s mana supply. And given that my mana pool is terrifyingly massive, I figured why not?” he said as he pressed a button hidden on the armor before it collapsed into a single scaled gauntlet.

He picked up the gauntlet before placing it on. He gave the glove portion of it a firm squeeze as he charged mana through it before the crystal screen came to life, even making a fun little bootup sound as the runes flew across the surface. He waited a little longer until the screen read full power. He lets out a sigh of nervousness before he looks over at the golem who was with him “If somethin’ goes wrong, the failsafe button is directly in the middle of the spinal column of the suit. That should shut the suit down entirely. Understood?”

He said as he made his way out to the surface, the golem nodding firmly as she followed close behind her master.As they stood out in the open, Zargan brought his arm up and began to type in on the crystal screen on the gauntlet. Perhaps he should think about adding a rune of vocal command so that he didn’t have to take his eyes away from what was in front of him. But, that was for another time when he would improve the suit after its first initial test run.

Once he had hit the start button, the suit began to travel up and along his arm then around his whole body all the way down to his boots, the metal scale plating clicking as it all came into place before the helmet itself came over his head, three V slanted visors holes glowing to life with a bright blue mana light. He looked up and down at the suit as it seemed to have deployed without any issue. He starts to walk around in it, making sure the basic motor functions responded well to the spinal column of the suit itself.

Once he had gotten the basic movements checked out. It was time for the core of the test to begin. He started to force the mana through his body and focus it on his back and his lower leg. At first, there was nothing. But then a few spurts of fire appeared before four full jets started to fire to life. Zargan was careful not to give it too much juice as he eased to propulsion runes higher and higher until he was hovering off the ground several feet. He moved his arms and legs about, finding the proper stances in each mode of flight carefully so that he wouldn’t spin out of control.

“Master, please be careful!” the golem cried out in concern. Though, she didn't need to worry. He was being as cautious as possible. He learned from his mistake of going too overboard when he first created his arm drills. He waved a hand to her with a light laugh “I know, my dear. This isn’t my first time dealin’ with new toys. I am going to go a little higher to test the limits of the propulsion runes. I need ya to be ready to catch me should things go wrong.” he said before he gave it more mana at a higher rate of pressure.

The dwarf rose higher and higher until he passed the clouds in the sky. He scanned the ground below him before he gave a deep sigh as he readied himself for what he was about to do. “Alright, Zargan…take it slow and don’t do anythin’ stupid.” he said to himself before he took the superman pose and started to fly forward. He moved his body in ways to be able to turn, rise and fall in mid-flight as he made mental notes on how it all worked. All the while the golem stood there at ground level with her hands clasped tightly against her chest, concerned for her master’s safety above all else.

As he cruised along, he noticed that there was a pegasus coming up on his right side who was looking at him like he was most definitely out of place. It was a blue furred pegasus with a rainbow mane and tail who suddenly flew right in front of him, making him lean back and come to a complete stop in the air. “Uuuuh..somethin’ I can help ya with, lass?” He asked as he floated there in front of her. The tomboyish mare circled him as she saw what made him airborne.

“Whoooaaaaa, this is pretty cool! Where did you get such an amazing contraption?!” she asked as she flew closer to him and grabbed his arm, admiring the craftsmanship of his suit. Zargan chuckled softly under his helmet, his voice sounding metallic and mechanical inside it. “It's a little somethin’ I have been workin’ on for the past few days. I see you pegasus folk flyin’ around up here and it looks like so much fun. So I wanted to experience it for myself. Ya know?”.

She nodded multiple times in agreement with his statement “Yeah, flying is pretty cool isn’t it? The wind in your mane and under your wins. It truly is a wonderful feeling.” she said as she started circling around him on her back. While he found that impressive, he wasn’t ready to go that lax in the air. Not yet anyway. Just then the screen on his right arm began to flash. He brings it up to his face before clicking on it to reveal his golem looking back at him.

“Master? Is everything okay up there? I haven’t seen you zoom by in quite some time..” she said in a worried tone. Zargan shook his head as he responded “Systems are nominal up here, my dear. Though I will be returning shortly. Just met a new face while I was up here is all.” he said as the pegasus wondered why he was talking into his forearm before she noticed the moving image on the crystal slate. “Hey..are you actually talking to someone on that thing?” she asked curiously.

Zargan nodded to the pegasus’ question before lowering his arm back down to his side. “Indeed, it's a little something I have been experimenting with in many ways. I call it…telecrystal..or maybe crystalphone? Bah, I will decide on a name later. Anyway, it was nice meetin’ ya, missy. I gotta get back or my little lady down there is gonna start worryin’ her poor mana circuits out.” he said as he turned from her and flew back down towards the golem and his home. He hoped they would come up with their own names at some point. But if not, he had already picked out some.

As he performed a slow descent back in front of his home, the golem finally let out a sigh of relief once his feet had touched the ground once more. If she had muscles, her poor body would be aching like mad with how tense she was. Her focus suddenly went behind him as he had the suit revert back to a simple scaled gauntlet. ‘Master…is this the one who you were speaking with before I called for you?” she asked as she leaned to the side slightly to get a better look at the new face.

Zargan blinked a couple times before turning his head to look over his shoulder at the cyan blue pegasus who had followed him home. She placed her hands on her hips with a grin before speaking “So, you are the little guy that AJ has been talking about a lot recently! You look small, but boy do you look shredded!” she said as she admired what she could see of the dwarf’s muscles. Zargan chuckled and flexed one of his arms while placing a hand on top of the flexing bicep “Well, when ya work as a blacksmith most of ya life, you tend to develop a strong core and limbs. Not to mention a lot of minin’ contributes to that as well.”.

The pegasus’ eyes widen and her jaw drops “A blacksmith…so you like..make weapons and stuff like that..?” she asked as her tail swayed in excitement. Zargan nodded in response “The best damn weapons and armor you will ever find for sure. I have seen what passes for ‘superior craftsmanship’ in this world. And let me tell ya, lass. I was not impressed.” he said as he crossed his arms with a smug grin, knowing what he had said was true since he tested such a theory just days before.

The confidence in his words ran true to the pegasus as stars formed in her eyes as she started bouncing on her hooves “Wooooow..you just became like…twenty-no seventy percent cooler!” she exclaimed as she finally took notice of the golem behind him “And is this the one you spoke of earlier? The one who you said had…what did you call them…mana circuits?”M she asked in confusion, not knowing what those were.

Zargan nodded and held out a hand toward her “Indeed. Ya could say I am technically their father since I created them. While they are constructs, I see them as alive as ya or I. I built her and five others with great pride. They help me around my forge both here and at the shop in Canterlot when I need them. Wonderful pieces of work they are.” he said before he gave the golem a firm thwack on the rear. The golem in question let out a rather adorable 'meep!' before she lightly stepped forward from the smack. Red markings indicated a blush forming across her facial features “Masteeerrrr~, not in front of the guest!” she said in an embarrassed but happy tone.

The pegasus arched a brow at the behavior before her but shrugged it off as she had an interest in just what else the dwarf could make. “So, you not only make weapons and armor, but you can make moving constructs as well? What else can you make, grease monkey?” she asked giving him a playful nickname in the process. He chuckled as the name did fit him as many of his new toys did require a certain amount of grease to function well.

“Well, why don’t ya come on in and take a look around if ya want? Who knows, ya might see somethin’ that ya like and wanna take it home with ya…for the right price of course. I don’t give my hard work up for free.” he said as he opened up the trap door, waiting for the pegasus to follow in after him. She was all too quick to follow him down below, the door closing behind them as they descended into his home. “By the way, what is ya name, lass? I am called Zargan Runespear.

“Oh, my name is Rainbow Dash. And I am the fastest flyer in all of Equestria. And don’t you forget it!” she exclaimed proudly

Author's Note

Think of the suit as a combo of iron man tech, dead space 2 helmet design all combined into fantasy scale painting armor solely powered by his mana.

May the darkness grant you peace.

Act 7: A Minin' We Are Goin'

Zargan walked out from his underground home early in the morning even before the sun was to be raised. He stretches and yawns loudly before he places his hands on his hips. He looked up at the dark sky with a smile before returning inside to grab his pack, pickaxe, and trusty arm drills. Why was he taking all this with him? Why to go mining of course! The dwarf needed more materials for his work. Well, that wasn’t true. While he had plenty of materials to work with, the dwarf couldn’t sit still for long it seemed.

Making sure that he had his pistol and hammer as well, the dwarf then sat out for the mine shaft he had created himself in a hidden spot on the mountains on the outskirts of Ponyville. He figured he’d bring his weapons along just in case he ran into anything hostile down in the tunnels he had made. After all, one never really knows what may dwell within the mountains of an unknown land, and Zargan wasn’t taking any chances.

Once he finally made it to his spot, he noticed hoof prints heading in at the entrance. He arched a brow at this but shrugged as he ventured in just as the sun was beginning to rise. As he ventured deeper, he noticed that the hoofprints continued on the path that he had decided he was taking today. “Hmmm, these are lookin' fresh. Someone else must be minin’ down here this early in the mornin’ Good thin’ I placed those ward runes to prevent others from minin’ deeper to steal all my hard found resources.” he said to himself as he continued his way forward.

Soon enough, the dwarf could hear a light ‘tinking’ sound as he made his way further down his created path. It would seem that he really wasn’t the only one down here this early in the morning. So long as they didn’t bother him, he wouldn’t bother them. It wasn’t until he noticed just who it was who was mining for gems. A white unicorn mare with a rather fancy purple mane and tail who was using her magic as a light of sorts as she collected her gems.

Zargan simply smiled as he walked past her and gave a light wave “Good mornin’ to ya, me beauty. Doin’ some early mornin’ minin are ya?” he asked as he watched her nearly jump out of her fur, turning her light onto him which made the dwarf squint a bit as he brought a free hand up to block the light. “Sweet Celestia!” she cried out in slight fear as she held up her small pickaxe in defense. It wasn’t until she saw who it was that she lowered her tool slightly with a sigh of relief. “Ah…pardon me, darling. You just seemed to have come out of nowhere and I was just so concentrated on mining what I needed. I hope you can forgive me~.”

Zargan didn’t even flinch when she raised her pickaxe to him. It was a tiny little thing that wouldn’t even be able to pierce his tough dwarven skin “Bah, no worries, love. I should have been carryin some kind of light or somethin’ so you could have seen me comin’. Bein’ a dwarf n’ all, I can naturally see in the dark as if it was daylight in here.” he said as he looked all over the walls where they both stood, seeing that she had found herself quite the haul. But, Zargan knew where all the good stuff was since he hid it all very well with rune wards.

“Well, I won’t bother ya any more than I already have. I gotta get to minin’ myself. You be careful now. Ya hear?” he said before he tipped his head to her and moved on about his way. As he walked past her, she took notice of all the equipment that he had with him and wondered if maybe she should hire him to mine what she needed instead of having to do it herself. It would certainly save her the mess on her soft and silky fur and the aches she would normally get from doing hard labor. Before she could finish her thought, he suddenly vanished completely as he literally walked through a wall, this being one of the rune wards he had put up to keep out intruders to his claim. “W-Wait!” she cried out before she ran to the wall, which was rock solid for her since the ward only allowed Zargan through. “What in the world..?” she asked as she felt around for any kind of opening in the wall. But, the ward was solid and well built. No one was getting through but him.

As the day went on, Zargan mined away, filling his magical bag of holding with mostly precious metal ore and a few gems here and there. He had even drilled down to a rather sizable mithril vein that he was able to completely mine out and fill his bag with. Once he had filled his bag to the point of nearly overflowing, he closed it up and began to make his way back to the surface “Heheheh, a good haul today. I think I can go a whole month or two without havin’ to go mine again.” he said to himself as he walked through the ward to find the hard hat that the white furred unicorn was wearing earlier that day lying carelessly on the ground.

He arched a brow and walked up to the hat before picking it up and looking it over “Hmm, the lass dropped her hat. Hope she is alright.” he said as he looked around the area before noticing a few things were off about the terrain. There were multiple holes in the ground and the sides of the walls. There were also signs of a struggle, dirt slid all across the ground like something was dragged, something was definitely wrong here. He looked down at the hat in his hand before sighing “It’s really none of my business. But what kind of dwarf would I be if I left a fellow miner behind? I refuse.” he said before hooking the hat onto his belt and slammed his drills together as they spun, creating sparks “I’m comin’, lass.”

The mare was sprawled and chained to the wall with the large group of diamond dogs surrounding her, completely stripped of her clothing and even a bit beaten up as they got ready to have their way with her for who knows how long. As they inched closer and closer, she screamed and jerked around, trying to free herself from her restraints, all in futile effort “Get away from me!!! No!” she shouted as she tried her best to keep them away from her.

Just as they were about to pounce, a sudden rumbling was heard from the ceiling above them before it cracked and crumbled on the first group of the canines, effectively rushing them under the broken ceiling. Zargan dropped on top of one of the rocks before looking around the chamber he had found himself in. Once he spotted the white mare who the rocks had barely just missed, he gave her a slight wave “There ya are. Give me just a moment and I will get ya out of here.” he said before he turned to face the rather large crowd of diamond dogs who were already running to him to attack the one who kicked their friends.

Zargan chuckled as his arm drills vanished from his arms and soon, the new toy he had recently created was in his hands. “Alright, Ignia. Make daddy proud…” he said as he pumped the flamethrower full of his mana before squeezing the trigger, the weapon kicking back slightly as the thirty foot flame reached the diamond dogs far before they could even get near him. This…probably wasn’t the best idea since they were in an enclosed cave, considering the limited amount of oxygen that was flowing in. But, it was the best he could do to handle such a massive group of enemies all at once. Once the dogs were in a panic and running into one another and catching each other aflame, he returned to the mare and began to remove her bindings, using his trusty hammer to break the chains before he lifted her in his arms and activated his jet boots, taking her out the way he came in.

Once he was back to where he began digging, he took a good sized powder keg with a super long fuse and lit it, and kicked it down into the hole they had come up. A few minutes later, there was a loud muffled explosion below “Phew…well if anythin’, that’ll keep them from chasing after us anyway.” he said as he gazed down at the hole. The unicorn sat on the ground while covering herself, exhausted from the ordeal that she almost had to face. Zargan walked up next to her before placing a rather beautifully ornate green elven cloak over her naked form “It’s nothin’ special, lass. But it will cover you fully for now.” he said as he placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.

She finally regained her composure before wrapping the cloak around her nude form to preserve her modesty “I…I am better now that you happened to stumble upon me. Thank you so much for coming when you did.” She said as she looked up at him with gratitude in her beautiful sapphire blue eyes. The dwarf waved his hand dismissively before holding out her hat and placing it in her hands “Dwarven code. Never leave a fellow miner behind. It doesn’t matter if they are in your party or not.” he said with a sagely nod.

After she rested for a while, Zargan helped her up and led her outside to the surface. Once there, he places a ward at that particular entrance so that no one but him can enter or leave. He then turned back to the unicorn before pointing his thumb over his shoulder “Someone who isn’t prepared for combat shouldn’t go in there. So I am sealin’ it off. Sorry about this. But I wouldn’t feel right allowin’ you in there should something like that happen again.” he said as he looked back up at her.

While she was a little disappointed that he had sealed off the entrance to the mine, she also understood where he was coming from and was very much grateful that he had come along when he did. “I really needed those gems for my business though…I have a client that wanted a bunch of dresses glittered with gems..” she said as she pouted a little bit. Zargan arched a brow before pulling his bag forward and opening it up to reveal a mountain of ore and gems in it “For a price, I will happily part with as many gems as ya need.”.

She looked in his bag curiously before her eyes sparkled and her pupils grew in size. The gems that Zargan had were of such high quality that even the ones she had before were being outshone by what he had “How…did you get these in such stellar quality, darling?!” she asked as she took out one of the rubies on top of the pile and examined its quality closely. Never before had she seen such superior quality precious stones in all her life. She had to have them. “W-What would you want for them in return..?” she asked as she tightened the cloak around her body, afraid of what he might ask of her for them. Luckily, lewd acts were not part of a business transaction for him.

“Oh, just a fair amount of bits is all I ask. But, perhaps you should return home, clean yourself up and rest. Ya have had a very tryin’ mornin’. That cloak is enchanted as well. Put the hood up and ya will turn invisible. That way you can still keep yourself from bein’ seen. After that, you can find my home just a little ways away from the Apple Orchard. I will have more than enough gems for you to pick from. Make sure you bring your wallet.” He said before he started to make his way back home himself.

The unicorn watched him walk off before she threw the hood over her head. And just as he said, the cloak turned her completely invisible. She’d have to thank him for not only saving her life but letting her borrow such a valuable piece of clothing. She hugged the cloak tightly around her before making her way back home, thinking about what she was going to give him for his generosity.

It wasn’t until later in the afternoon that the chime for Zargan’s security crystal went off. He was in the middle of cleaning and polishing his weapons on his wall before the crystal started flashing. He placed the sword he was cleaning back on its hooks before going to answer the door. Once he made his way there, he was careful to flip the door open to see the unicorn he had saved that early morning. He nodded and motioned her to come in “Glad ya came. I have the gems already set out for ya viewin’ pleasure. Feel free to pick out the ones ya want.” he said before closing the door back after she came in.

As they walked into the main chamber, Zargan directed her to his materials room, where a massive mountain of gems laid out before her, even separated into their respective colors and types. And to add to that, they were all the same superior quality as the ones she had seen from him earlier that day. “Oh my goodness…you have over one-hundred times that I need! You were not exaggerating both the quality and quantity at all!” she said as she began picking up what she needed and stuffing it into a bag that she had brought with her. Even took more than she needed for this project for future use.

Zargan nodded and made his way towards the door “Let me know when ya are ready for your final purchase, my dear. I will be in the main chamber resuming my cleaning of my weapons.” he said before leaving the room. After a couple of hours, the mare came back out with her bag filled to the brim with all she could carry. She walked over to the table and dropped it on the surface with a loud ‘thus’ which caught his attention. “Aaah, ya got yourself a good haul there, lass. I hope you have enough to cover such a hefty amount,” he said as he walked up to the table and began to count out all that she took.

As he was counting out her purchase, she couldn’t help but take notice of his craftsmanship, mainly his armor pieces. They looked so well made and sturdy to boot. Both stylish and functional all in one. “Tell me, darling. Have you been a blacksmith all your life? From what I can see, your talent would wow that of the nobles of Canterlot..even royalty would find your work desirable…” she said as she walked over to a full plated suit of armor that was shining with mithril metal and trimmed with solid gold. He chuckled softly and nodded “Well, I suppose I picked up my first smithin’ hammer at a young age, yes. I just knew that it was somethin’ I was meant for. Makin stuff n’ all that is a passion of mine.” he said before he placed all the gems back in ehr bag before telling her the amount that was required for her to be able to walk out with the gems.

While it was a hefty price, she happily paid it as she knew she would get back what she paid him plus more whenever she sold her dresses to her client. She was about to head home when she almost forgot to return his cloak “Oh, and here is your cloak back, good sir. I can’t thank you enough again for letting me use it.” she said as she handed him the neatly folded up cloak back to him. He took it back and placed it back into his bag of holding before smiling up at her “It was no trouble. I wasn’t gonna let ya walk into town with all for the world to see ya. Especially with such a posh lass like yourself. I understand ya have a reputation to uphold.” he said as he handed her off the gems once she gave him the money.

“By the way, my name is Zargan Runespear. It was a pleasure doin’ business with ya,” he said as he watched her leave. She stopped and turned to him with a sultry smile and blew him a kiss “ANd my name is Rarity, darling~. And indeed, it was a pleasure. Come by my shop in town if you ever need a new wardrobe. I would love to try and make something for someone of your…proportions.”.

Author's Note

Here ya go everyone, enjoy!

May the darkness grant you peace.

Act 8: A Dance Under The Midnight Moon

It was just another calm and quiet evening as Zargan walked along the back roads of the outskirts of Ponyville. Apparently, they were having some kind of festival that had been going on all day long, it was a once in a while thing. While Applejack and a few others had invited Zargan to the festivities, he felt that it wouldn’t have been right for him to join. At least, not yet anyway. He was still a stranger to these lands, let alone this world. And being part of something steeped in tradition didn’t feel right to him when he had no right.

He did notice however, that the moon was awfully brighter and larger than usual, so he assumed that this change in the nightly orb in the sky must be part of the whole thing, as the sun had also been rather brighter today as well. When it first rose. “Maybe one day when I make a name for myself n’ have had more time in this world, I will start attendin’ the events when I feel at home. If I am here that long, that is. Who knows, I might end up headin’ back home at some point.” he said as wishful thinking crept into his mind. While he didn’t particularly mind it here one bit, he did miss his dwarven brothers and sisters.

While the dwarf was in his thoughts of home, a rather tall. A cloaked individual strolled past him heading towards town. He shifted his eyes toward the figure, looking them up and down. While the cloak was hiding most of their form, he couldn’t help but notice the dark regalia on their hooves….very dainty hooves in fact. “Ah, good evnin’, lass. Heading into town to enjoy the festivities?” he asked as he stopped, the figure stopping as well. “Heheheh, you could say that. What are you exactly? I have never in all my time ever seen a creature such as yourself. Then again, I have returned after a…shall we say long, long trip away from this land.’.

Zargan chuckled before nodding “Then ya wouldn’t know much about me. I am just a humble dwarf is all. One thing led to another and here I am, stuck in this world. I really don’t feel like I belong here, though. So I am doin’ what I can to make a livin’ and work as hard as I can for my keep.”. The figure turned their head towards Zargan before speaking once more “Oh? A stranger in a new world are you? I can only imagine the isolation you must be feeling. You and I are two of a kind. While I am not new to this world, I feel far lonelier than I ever have. But, that all changes tonight…” she said as she watched Zargan reach into his own cloak. The dwarf pulls out his flask and holds it up for a moment as a toast “Well then, my dear. Here’s to ya.” he said before taking a swing of the ale he had stored in it before putting it away.

“Oh, and one more thing before you go…” she said as she turned around fully to him before she flung a large ball of magic energy at him. He widened his eyes before quickly deploying his tower shield out of thin air and slammed it into the ground just in time for the magic to hit it and disperse, the pushback making him grunt a bit as he slid back a couple of inches. The hooded mare chuckled wickedly before she lowered her hood, revealing a dark flowing mane and black fur with evil ice blue eyes who looked upon the dwarf with amusement and a little bit of awe “My my, quick on your feet and capable as well. You would do amazing as my personal knight…” she said as she slowly started to approach.

Zargan peeked from behind his shield with a rather unamused look on his face, the dwarf’s trusty warhammer appearing in his other hand as he then bashed the front of his shield a couple of times with it “Ya know, this isn’t exactly the best way to make friends…” he said in a rather annoyed tone. Without saying another word, she flung another ball of magic at him. But this time, Zargan’s eyes flashed blue for a moment before he charged forward with his shield, breaking through the flying orb of magic and heading straight for the mare’s center of mass. While she was shocked to see him just obliterate her magic, she was quick to take to the skies by jumping up and showing off her dark wings which seemed to glimmer in the moonlight.

Zargan stared up at her with narrowed eyes before giving a single “hmph!” with a smile on his lips before he suddenly began to have his armor cover his body more rapidly than it had the first time. His flight jets immediately bring him to the same level as her now before the helmet quickly forms from the neck up and sealed around his head, the v-style slants for his vision shining to life as he exchanges his tower shield for his trusty pistol. “Ya require wings…I don’t,” he said as his voice became more metallic in his armor. As he watched her seemingly make a dark metal sword appear from nowhere, he chuckled before making his pistol vanish and a smaller version of his tower shield appears. And in his other hand, he sends his hammer away and makes a new toy of his appear in its place. A rather odd looking blade…or many small blades it seems.

He smiled wickedly under his helmet before sending magic through the odd weapon before the many small, sharp blades started to run around in the groove where the edge should be, the sword making a rather loud and terrifying sound as they rotated around the weapon “Say hello to my newest daughter, Natasha.” he said as he held his shield up in front of him, ready to move or attack at a moments notice. Nightmare Moon didn’t show it, but there was a hint of fear inside of her as she watched the mechanical devourer of flesh rotate in the moonlight. “By the moon…that is no ordinary sword. That monstrosity could rip through me with ease should he land a hit on me. I think I may have picked a fight with the wrong pon-...creature on my first night back.” she thought to herself as she finally noticed the amount of magic radiating from him. If this terrifying amount of magic was truly his, why wasn’t he using it on her? Little did she know, that while he could not cast spells, his inventive mind came up with ways to utilize this massive reservoir of power.

Not waiting on them, he powers his suit jets forward with the chainsword’s blades revving at full throttle. She was quick to throw up a magical barrier just as he was coming at her with an overhead slash, the chainsword making contact and grinding relentlessly against the barrier, forcing sparks to form a falling stream from the contact. “Come on, lass! Ya wanted this fight! Ya either surrender and tuck ya tail between ya legs and flee…or I send ya off into shredded meat to the ground! Which is it gonna be?!” he asked as he continued to bear down hard on her barrier. In his mind, he was really hoping she’d pick the second option. While he was enjoying getting combat data from this, something about this mare was…oddly vulnerable. Behind that wicked glare, showed the eyes of a scared child or the eyes of someone still relatively young and inexperienced anyway.

“Please, go home, young one! You know as well as I that given your power, you aren’t ready to face down someone who has lived his whole life in combat to survive and adapt!” he said as he continued to rev the chainsword against the barrier, the sphere beginning to crack and crumble under the pressure of his strength and the fierce rotating blades. She shut her eyes and let out a cry of anger before the sphere broke and sent out a massive shockwave, pushing the dwarf back a good distance before she vanished into a puff of dark blue smoke and flew off towards the Everfree Forest “I will make a strategic retreat for now..! But mark my words, I will be the one to bring you down, I swear!” she said as her voice echoed in the sky towards him.

Once she was far enough away, Zargan let out a sigh of relief before his chainsword and shield vanished while he lowered himself back onto the ground before his jets cut off. He lets his armor recede back into its gauntlet form before he takes out his flask once more and takes a long drawn out swig from it “I am assumin’ that she is somehow related to the ruler of this land. Gotta love family squabbles of politics and power, somethin’ I want no part of.” he said as he began to make his way back to his underground home for the remainder of the evening, not knowing the event would unfold later that night.

–A Few Days After–

The dwarf was in his Canterlot shop just hammering away at a couple of commissions he had gotten from a few more of the castle guards and a couple of traveling mercenaries when there was a knock at the front door of his business. He blinked a few times before carefully placing down his hammer after a few more strikes and placing the blade in the water to cool so it would hold its shape. He takes off his smithing gloves and places them on the countertop next to the till before making his way up the stone steps.

Once there, he opens the slot and spots no other than the large white furred princess herself. He arched a brow before closing the slot and opening the door fully now as he gazed up at her with a neutral stare. “Somethin’ ya need, lass?” he asked in the most casual way. The mare stared at Zargan in disappointment, but the disappointment wasn’t for him. “SOMEONE wishes to apologize to you for what they did a few nights ago, doesn’t she…?” she said as she looked over her shoulder to someone hiding behind her.

Zargan arched a brow again before he saw a dark blue alicorn mare step out from behind the taller one. Right away, he knew exactly who she was once he saw those teal blue eyes gazing at him with worry and slight fear. “Well…?” asked Celestia as she held a hand out toward the dwarf who was a little surprised she was punishing her sister this way. The smaller mare reached up to stroke at her flowing mane nervously before speaking quietly “I-I am..s-sorry for attacking you the other night. In short, I was just upset at events from the past, and I took it out on you. P_please forgive me.” she said as she bowed her head slightly as her eyes fell to the ground. Clearly, she has had time to think about her actions, and her apology seemed sincere even though she wouldn’t look him in the eyes.

Zargan grabbed at and stroked his beard for a moment before motioning her to come down to eye level with him. She blinked a few times before squatting down slightly before a firm, but gentle chop of his hand landed on the top of her head which made her squeak a bit and flop onto her rear. While the impact of the chop didn’t really hurt, she still let out a whine as she fell on her rear. But right after, a gentle hand fell upon the top of her head as he began to pet and stroke her mane affectionately “All is forgiven, young one. I hold no hostility towards you. However…” he said as her ears perked up at that last word. “I do believe in order for the lesson to sink in, she should come and help me in my shop here in the early evenin’ hours for at least a month. Nothing too strenuous. Just a couple of hours for the next thirty days is all. Assumin’ this arrangement works with ya big sister here.”.

Luna looked up at Celestia with pleading eyes before the white alicorn nodded in agreement with Zargan’s proposal “Wel, so long as she can skip the weekends. I don’t want her personal time to be taken at least.” she bartered on her sister’s behalf, but that it was a wonderful idea. “Fair enough, then we can just tack on another week to make up for the weekends then,” he said before holding out a hand to Celestia. “Deal~,” she said giving the dwarf’s hand a firm shake. “Besides, I don’t want to take her weekends away anyway. I hear that there is a special kind of holiday comin’ up in a couple of weeks. I heard it was called….Nightmare Night, I believe. Where the young ones get to dress up in costume and participate in fun but spooky events. All while fillin’ their bags up with all kinds of sweets.”.

Celestia nodded assuredly “Indeed, a little tradition my sister here created a long, long time ago. This will be her first one in a thousand years. I know she is excited for it to be upon us.” she said while looking down at her now smiling sister who was trying her best to pout because of her predicament. But, the idea of celebrating her favorite holiday is what prevented her from being upset now. “And will you be joining the other citizens for the festivities this time, Zargan? I was told you were not spotted the whole entire day or evening of the festival when you ran into my sister.”.

Zargan sighed softly before shaking his head “Two reasons why I will not be participating. One, I am not a citizen. So I do not have the right to join in on such things. And two, I haven’t been here long enough in this realm alone to be allowed to join in such merriment. The fact that you felt it necessary to drag your sister here and force her to apologize is more than I deserve already. So no, I will not be joining the fun.” he said before he heard Luna quietly beg “P-Please come? If I can show you how hard I can work the first two weeks, will you please come?”

Zargan’s eyes unfortunately met with hers at that moment. Those soft teal eyes were now big and watery as they stared up at the dwarf pleadingly, the princess even laying it on thicker with a few sniffles added in. The dwarf was pretty much cornered now. And with an exasperated groan, he drags his hand down his face and sighs “Alright, alright! I will go. But ya better believe I am putin ya to the grindstone, lass! Ya won’t last the full thirty days!” he said as he then looked up at Celestia “And her first shift begins later tonight at five pm sharp. She better not be late.”.

When Luna first showed up, Zargan was surprised that not only did she come by thirty minutes early, but got right to work on the most mundane and boring tasks he could think of to really test her patience. And she took to doing them without a single complaint. While he didn’t show it, he was very pleased with her work ethic. Perhaps just because she was royalty didn’t mean she didn’t know how to pick up a broom or duster occasionally.

Zargam had her stop for the last ten minutes of her shift to let her rest for the evening, he knew that she had other duties to attend to after she was done here. As he was hammering away once more on one of his commissions, he couldn’t help but notice she was eyeing a particular weapon on his wall. A rather large and menacing scythe that looked like it was wielded by the grim reaper himself. He smiled under his beard before speaking without looking up from his work “Ya know, I might be willin’ to part with that free of charge if ya come in for the next twenty-nine days and work as hard as ya did today.” he said before he watched the sparkle flair up in her eyes with those words.

“R-Really….REALLY?!” she asked as she bounced on her hooves and swayed her tail with great excitement. Zargan simply nodded as he continued to work before noticing that her time was up as the last bit of sand in the hourglass he had made specifically for her time here ran out “Anyways lass, time for ya to head on out. Ya served ya evenin’s worth here for today. Get home before ya sister starts to worry. Stay safe.” he said before getting right back to work.

Luna blinked a few times as she looked over at the hourglass. Was it truly time already? She didn’t know why, but she was a little sad to actually leave this amazing shop now for the day. Was she actually starting to…like working here? Surely not! She…was just tired was all, that was it! Her freedom was at hand, and the exit was right there! However, as she stood at the threshold that led toward the stairs, she hesitated. She placed a hand on the wall as she stood at the bottom of the stairs and looked back at the working dwarf. She was about to say something, but after a minute, decided not to. Not yet anyway. But she would definitely be back tomorrow, he could count on it.

Author's Note

Yes, I threw in a chainsword this chapter. I have been playing lots of Space Marine 2 and said "You know what? I want one." And here we are. While I have him create a jet-powered great hammer? Who knows.

Also, for those who are curious as to what his power armor looks like, I got ya covered.

Act 9: Zargan's First Nightmare Night

It was the night of Nightmare Night, all the little fillies and foal ran about in their costumes as they went house to house filling up their buckets or sacks with sweets and treats. Zombies, ghosts, ghouls, and a manner of all kinds of spooky outfits..and some not so spooky. After all, it was more mainstream these days. And where was the dwarf one might ask? Well, Zargan was just putting the finishing touches on his own Nightmare Night costume. Princess Luna wanted him to join in on the festivities so badly, she was going to get what she wanted.

Zargan’s trap door to his home suddenly flew open before a flood of mist seeped from the entrance, a silhouette emerging from it as a hooded figure on top of a mechanical horse strutted forward wearing a tattered cloak and worn armor with no head. In one hand, he held the reigns of the demonic mech equine while in the other, he he;d a metallic pumpkin head with a traditional but rather spooky face on it that had fiery magical energy flowing through it. Where was the dwarf’s head one might wonder? Well, he was actually wearing a breathable mesh mask that he had enchanted with the rune of unseeing, basically making the wearer invisible..or rather the part that was being worn anyway.

Zargan let out a low laugh which was distorted and lowered, giving off that spooky and demonic sound as the large mech horse reared back with a demonic whinny before charging off down the road. He was off to frighten all the ponies in Ponyville, big or small. This is what happens when one invites an inventor and warsmith to holiday events such as this. You get to see what they can really create. Something told Zargan that he was going to be causing a bit of trouble, but it was too late now. He was deep into his role now and was ready to play it up to his full potential.

The sound of thundering hooves echoed throughout the square as ponies went about their Nightmare Night fun. They all turned toward the direction of said sound and soon saw Zargan upon his imposing steed as he rode up with the pumpkin head in hand. He let out another horrific demonic laugh as the fire flared from the jack-o-lantern’s mouth and eyes. The ponies let out screams of terror as they all ran for cover and hid from the imposing figure that sat upon the mech steed as it circled the others in the square who weren’t quick enough to hide “Hahahahahaaaaa, cower in fear ya pathetic mortals…I, the Great Dullahan have come to take yer souls from yer worthless corpses to drag ya down into the darkest corners of the netherworld were ya will all suffer for eternity!” he shouted in an evil tone of voice as the pumpkin still radiated that fiery energy.

He was really getting into this role to the point where he was actually having a blast, it wasn’t until he heard the sound of all the foals and even some adults crying and sobbing for their lives that he blinked a few times behind his mesh face covering. Perhaps he had gonna a little too far for this kind of holiday..? He releases the reigns of the mech horse and pulls up the mesh covering to reveal his face to the cowering crowd “I had no idea that my performance would cause all of ya such a panic…I was just tryin’ to get in the spirit of thins’..” he said as he placed the pumpkin on the back of the steed and hoped off before pulling the mesh fully off.

Once he hopped off and the ponies saw that it was just the local dwarf, they let out a sigh of relief and walked over to him with unamused faces at first, but soon marveled at his costume and even the mech horse that he rode in on.

“Woooooow and you MADE this who thing?!” one of the foals said in awe as they walked around the monstrous mech steed and admired his tattered cloak and armor. “How in the world did you make your head invisible like that?!” one of the mares asked as they noticed the mesh mask in his hand. “Is that how you made your voice all spooky too?!” asked another stallion. It seemed that since they knew who it really was, they were all about his whole get up. Zargan held up his hands to have them give him some space. Never before had any of the citizens of this small town ever come up to him and asked him some many questions of interest. It actually felt pretty cool that they took an interest in his hard work as he did put a lot of work into it.

“Well, to make the mech horse move, I put a magical core into it and used it to channel my own magic into said core to give it life. Think of it like a construct or a golem in a way. But not quite there yet since it isn’t sentient. So I suppose it falls squarely under the golem category. As for the invisibility of my head and the voice distortion, this mesh mask has two runes on it that give it enchantments. The rune of unseeing and the rune of vocal distortion. Pretty neat huh?”. They all agreed with eager nods, whispering going on through the crowd that surrounded him before the group began to spit off, forming a path as the slow clap was heard, and a certain familiar blue alicorn made their way toward Zargan as the other ponies bowed.

“My my, a truly wonderfully frightening custom indeed, sir. I commend you for putting together such a terrifying piece. I wasn’t sure what to think when I saw you charging into town. I thought you may have truly been some kind of evil specter that had come to steal the souls of my subjects. Honestly, if you entered the contest, you’d win first place for sure.” she said as she now stood in front of Zargan with an approving smile. The dwarf simply smiled up at her and waved his hand dismissively at the idea “Well, I am not here to win a contest, Moony. I am simply here fulfilling a request is all. I am not gonna ruin the wee ones’ fun by not givin' them a fightin’ chance in the costume contest. Let them have their fun.” he said as he used his jet boots to levitate back onto his mech steed and settled atop it.

“Ah, fair enough I suppose. Well, what do you plan on doing now? Headed off to the Apple Farm to show off to the other ponies who are gathering for the festivities being held over there?” Luna asked as she placed a hand on the neck of the steel steed, admiring its well made construction and how fluidly it moved once the Zargan’s magic began to channel through it once more. “They are doing some kind of spooky haunted tour through the orchard there this year with all sorts of prompts and such. Perhaps….add to their terror by showing up and giving them a bit of a fright in the trees?” she suggested as she got a mischievous glint in her eyes.

Zargan grinned wickedly under the mesh mask as he slipped it back on and removed the rather large and menacing greatsword from his back “I did want to put this little toy to good use at some point tonight…” he said as he held up the rather imposing blade that gleamed in the moonlight. Luna looked at him with concern and shock on her face “You aren’t..going to hurt anyone are you…?” she asked as she was positive that one swing from that thing could split someone in two. Zargan blinked a few times before laughing lightly “Oh no, this can’t cut anything. Not even wet tissue paper.” he said as he swung it through Luna’s neck with a quick swipe, the mare freaking out and closed her eyes tight before slowly opening them to see the blade sticking through her neck….but no pain or any kind of severing. But…it was clearly there.

“How in the world…?” she asked as she pointed at the blade, her finger going through it before looking up at Zargan in confusion. “Isn’t it just the neatest little thin’ ya ever seen? I took an unused sword hilt and embedded a crystal with a rune of projection. It is given off the image of a real blade when it really isn’t there to begin with. How else do ya think I was able to swing it at ya so quickly?” he said as he placed it back on his back. “My goodness…have you ever thought about making something like this for theater use? You could make major coin. And the acting would look far more believable since the blade can stick through someone without actually hurting them. Bravo indeed, sir.” she said as she bowed her head in respect to his inventiveness.

As they continued to talk, the ponies wondered why their princess was being so casual with this dwarf. He didn’t even bow to her when she approached him. Could it be that they are in a far more friendly relationship? It certainly got them all whispering amongst themselves as they went about their activities. Soon enough, Zargan departed and rode off for Apple Acres. It was time he got the drop on more unsuspecting ponies. And doing it in the thick trees of the orchard was absolutely perfect. Just like a certain legend.

Once he makes it to the farm, he hangs back a bit and dismounts after hiding his mech horse before peeking from out behind a tree. From what he can see, he only sees Granny Smith sitting on her rocking chair with a rather impressive witch costume on, but no one else. Looks like they have all already gone off on the spook tour that Luna had told Zargan about. He sighs in relief before lifting his mesh mask up to reveal his face and makes his way up to the porch, clearing his throat a good distance away so he could get the old mare’s attention “Good evenin’ to ya, lass. Restin ya bones while everyone else is off I see.” he said as he waved to her with a genuine smile.

The old mare jumped a bit in her chair before looking over at Zargan, placing a hand over her chest as she let out a sigh of relief and offered a smile back “Well hello there, fella. Happy Nightmare Night to you. And thank you for makin’ your presence known without bringin’ me a fright. I don’t think this old heart could take it.” she said as she motioned him closer. “Yeah, I didn’t think you’d be able to handle my full costume. When the ponies in town saw it, I scared just about all of them to tears..literally. The poor wee ones were about to just fall over and curl up. Some of the other adults too.” he said as he leaned against one of the wooden beams that held up the oning of the porch.

After they talked for a few minutes, Zargan lowered his mesh mask down before whistling sharply, the demonic sound of a mechanical whinny could be heard as the thunderous hooves charged forward and came to a sliding halt next to the dwarf as he stepped off the porch, the old mare now seeing his full get up once he climbs back up and takes the pumpkin back into his hand, nodding in approval with a slight chill going up her spine “Oh my, now Ah am really glad yah didn’t come chagrin’ in like that! Ah, don’t think Ah’d be sittin’ here gabbin’ with ya if that were the case. But, that’ll definitely scare the hooves off those youngins in there. Go spook’em good, fella!” she said with encouragement. Zargan chuckled and nodded..even though she could see him nodding “That is the plan. Get ready to see a crowd runnin’ back towards this direction.”. He then pulls back on the reigns as the horse whinnies and spins around on its hind legs and charges off into the orchard, his tattered cloak flowing in the wind behind him.

As the group of ponies being led by Applejack and Big Mac are led on the tour, the orchard is suddenly filled with a low mist that comes up to the knees of the adult ponies, and it seems the deeper into the orchard they go, the more mist appears. All was going according to the Apple Family’s plan…until it wasn’t. The group suddenly heard the sound of those thundering hooves off in the distance, and the eerie whinny of a mech horse as the galloping got closer and closer. “Mac…was this a part of the plan yah didn’t tell me about?” asked Applejack as even she was getting worried at this point. “N-Nope…” replied the large stallion as he gave an audible gulp, his eyes shifting as he tried to pinpoint where the galloping was coming from.

The group huddled together like a bunch of frightened chickens before Zargan came riding past them once, the movement too quick for the group to really see what was now circling them, a burst of dark and eerie laughter circling the group as the hooves pounded heavily “Oooh yes..another batch of fresh souls for me to take with me to the netherworld. I think I will enjoy killing you all just as I did with all the ponies in the town…” he said in a menacing manner before drawing the fake greatsword before charging straight towards the group, the pumpkin head flaring up with fiery energy once more as Zargan laughed evilly once more.

Eventually, the group would disperse leaving Zargan to pursue Applejack alone. He lets her get ahead of him to give her the false hope that she has lost him. But, this was all a part of his wicked plan, as this was the mare that he wanted to corner all night and impress and scare all at once. Once she came out of hiding and thought she was alone, Applejack let out a sigh as slowly made her way back to the farm. Never had she ever been so scared in her life at what she saw that night. This definitely wasn’t a part of their attraction this year.

Just as she was about to walk more, the sudden sound of a mechanical snort was heard behind her. She slowly turned around to see her pursuer RIGHT behind her, causing her to scream bloody murder before falling back onto her rear and scrambling to crawl away from her attacker. Zargan chuckled wickedly before hopping off his mount and grabbing at her light blonde tail and pulling her back agonizingly slowly before stepping on her midsection with the greatsword in hand before pointing it at her throat “No one is comin’ to save ya…” he said as he watched Applejack struggle and flail with fear and terror on her face.

“P-Please..have mercy! A-Ah don’t wanna die! PLEASE!” she cried out as she watched Zargan lift the blade up for a death blow strike, “Time to drag ya to hell, lass…” he said before swinging the blade with ease. Tears flowed from Applejack’s eyes as she watched the blade come down towards her neck. She was expecting pain and a quick death at this point but opened her eyes slowly as she looked up at Zargan and the blade that was sticking in her neck. But it…wasn’t really in her neck? She looked up at Zargan in confusion mixed with fear before Zargan removed his armored foot from her and chuckled wickedly before offering a hand to Applejack “I think it is safe to say I got ya and the rest of the Ponyville ponies good this year, lass.” He said before removing his mesh mask to reveal his face.

It took the farm girl to register just exactly what was happening right now. Once she saw who it was and that the sword was a complete fake. She wipes her tears away, pretending to shove it off like it was nothing, but still shaking like a leaf as she takes his hand “Oooh yah son of a bitch…” she said in a playful manner before taking his hand and letting him help her to her hooves “That ain’t right…ain’t right at all. But that was also damn good. Yah went all out for your first Nightmare Night, it seems. Ah am highly impressed at your get up.” she said as she dusted the dirt off the scarecrow costume she was wearing…which she felt like she didn’t put enough effort into with how she was easily outdone by the dwarf.

Zargan chuckled softly before hopping onto his mech steed once more before offering a hand to the mare “Come on, lass. Hop on. I will be happy to give ya a ride back. I don’t think ya will be makin’ it back anytime soon with those shaky legs of yers.” he said with a teasing tone. As much as she didn’t want to admit it, he was right. The chase through the orchard and the near death experience she had faced drained her as her adrenaline reserves were dried out. She walked up beside him and punched him in his thigh, knowing it wasn’t even going to cause any pain. But, it made her feel better. She then takes his hand before she is pulled up and placed behind him before he begins the leisurely trot back to the farm. He smiled the whole way back, knowing full well that this Nightmare Night…was a complete success.

Author's Note

Eh, better late than never on a Nightmare Night chapter. But I got it done. Hope you all enjoy.

May the darkness grant you peace.

Act 10: Invitation To The Yule Gala

It was another cold and snowy day in the land of Equestria. The holiday of Hearth’s Warming was approaching, and the ponies of the land were getting ready with all their decorations and shopping. Even Zargan’s little smithing shop in Canterlot was getting a bit of business. Some wanted weapons, others wanted metalwork of different kinds. The dwarf had been known to create pieces of art from time to time. So putting together fancy pieces of metal wasn’t new territory for him. Plus, it was extra coin, and one could never have too much spendable income flowing in just in case it was needed.

While he was working in his shop, he saw a dark blue flash of light in his peripheral vision, knowing exactly who it was who had just suddenly appeared in his shop. “Welcome in, Moony. Come to keep my company today huh?” he asked as he pounded his hammer on a battleaxe that a client had commissioned him for his wife of all folks who wanted a heavy two-handed weapon. After all, he had seen the wife in question..and she was a lithe little thing. But, it was money. So he didn’t question it.

“Good morning, grandfather,” she said in a much more casual and pleasant tone than how she would normally address him if they were in public. Here, she could relax around him and treat him with the proper respect he deserved, and be at ease. She wasted no time in grabbing the broom that he had kept out for her to use should she be so inclined to help out around his shop. What started as a punishment eventually grew into something that the young alicorn wanted to do in her spare time to just come and spend time and watch the dwarf work his craft.

As Luna began sweeping the stone floor, Zargan could see a bit of worry across her facial features as he took a glance at her from his work “What seems to be botherin’ ya, lass? You know that out of all the time I have been spendin’ with ya I can tell when you are feeling happy or sad.” he said as he continued hammering away. Luna tensed up a bit before lowering her ears and gave a bit of a sigh “It's my sister. She is still trying to find ways to get you to officially become one of our subjects so she can monopolize your services and skills strictly for the kingdom. I know you don’t want to limit your customer base, and I have told her that time and time again. But…she refuses to listen to me. And I don’t want there to be any friction between you and her. Because it might cause you to leave. And I don’t want you to leave. I love coming here and just watching you. And you always give me such valuable advice.” she said as she gripped the wooden handle of the broom firmly as she feared what would happen if he did indeed leave.

Zargan gave the axe a few more thwacks from his hammer before placing it in the cooling trough and removing his gloves. He could see the genuine worry on the mare’s face before coming up to her side and placing a hand on her back in a comforting manner “Now now, my dear. I have too much invested in this place to just simply up and leave over somethin’ so trivial. Your sister can entice me and try to buy my loyalty as much as she can. But it ain’t gonna happen. She is gonna have to share my skills with everyone else. Because unless it is bad for business, I ain’t given up my business rights for some political struggle. So, she is just gonna have to deal with it. So you got nothin’ to worry about. I ain’t goin’ nowhere.” he said as he patted her on the back reassuringly with a smile.

Luna gave out a sigh of relief as she took his reassurance with a smile of her own before leaning down and hugging the dwarf whom she saw as a grandfatherly figure more than anything. He actually reminded her of Starswirl in a way, except Zargan was a bit more gruff and less refined than the old stallion. But, she was fine with that. She never wanted to see this dwarf leave out of her life unless he had to. And if that day ever came, it would sadden her greatly. But, that wasn’t something she had to worry about. Although, she did have one thing to worry about now. “Well, while I came by to see you today just because I wanted to, it isn’t the only reason,” she said as she reached into her coat pocket and pulled out a rolled up parchment with Celestia’s veal upon it. Zargan let out a soft “Hmmm?” before taking the letter once it was held out to him removed the seal with a flick of his wrist and unrolled the letter before reading it.

Dear Zargan Runespear,

I do hope that this letter finds you well. Your business exploits have made their rounds in and out of my castle. A few of my guards have been more than pleased with the work you have done for them. However, there are some...rather unsettling rumors going around that the smithies within the castle walls and other competitors are not pleased that you are taking away their business. So I urge you to take caution and stay safe.

On another note, the Yule Gala is going to be coming up soon. As a thank you for your services, I have enclosed an invitation to allow you VIP access to the event in question. This is also a thank you for letting my younger sister continue to come and visit and help you in your shop when she has time to herself. She can't keep the thoughts of such fine work out of her head and always can't wait to see what you will make next. Thank you so very much for showing her such kindness. I hope to see you join us for the event.

With warm regards,

Princess Celestia

Zargan saw the platinum accented invitation peeking out at the bottom of the letter before picking it up and examining the finely crafted ticket “Hmm..what exactly is…VIP?” he asked as he looked over at Luna for clarification. He was still learning much about this world and its ways. And never had the term VIP been used in his world…let alone his way of life. Luna gazed down at the ticket before gasping sharply while covering her muzzle a bit “She..she gave you one of THOSE?! What are you thinking, sister?!” she asked in genuine shock before shaking her head in absolute shock. She wasn’t shocked by the fact that he didn’t deserve such a thing. When in fact, he did deserve it with how amazing his craft and skills are. But it was the fact that Luna knew that he wasn’t swayed by fancy things like this. The dwarf was always hanging around the local bar or pub within the city if he decided to go out at night and let his metaphorical hair down.

“It's another way of saying someone of importance. An esteemed guest. She is really, really going all out to try and get your loyalty it seems. Do you plan on actually going? I don’t want to nobles and other guests to cause you any trouble, grandfather…” she said with genuine worry in her voice. Zargan appreciated her worry and concern for him. But he reached up and gently tapped one of her cheeks while rubbing a thumb of her soft flesh while locking eyes with her “Don’t ya go worryin’ about little old me, lass. A dwarf can adapt to any situation if they need to. Besides, if these highborn, hoitty toitty, soft skinned nobles wanna pick a fight with me, I ain’t gonna let polite high society rules hold me back from havin’ my fun. Your sister is gonna regret this little stun to get in my favor should thins’ go wrong.” he said with a low chuckle. Luna was a bit worried at that statement and watched as Zargan rubbed his hands together. But at the same time, she was really hoping that he would stir up the ever boring event that was held year after year…

–One Week Later–

Zargan flew towards the castle after having deployed the jet boots portion of his armor before coming to a slow descent in front of the event hall in the northern courtyard of the castle grounds before straightening his rather fancy black and white tunic. It even had the frilly sleeves and a snug neckerchief that had a beautiful red ruby in the middle of it and a long black cloak with a soft dark feathered hood that was made from the most pristine of raven feathers, and shiny brand new leather black boots that went up to his knees. He was dressed to impress for sure. But attached to his belt was a hanging flask which he might be needing for this night. And best of all? The flask automatically refilled each time it was emptied out. So unless the barrels that he had in storage back at home ran dry, it would pull from those.

As Zargan made his way closer to the line, he couldn’t help but notice all the eyes upon him as he got closer and closer to the bulk of the crowd. Some gazed upon him with disdain while others were more curious. He gave a soft sigh before reaching down and grabbing his flask before taking a nice and slow swig before patching it back onto his belt. Once he made it up to the guardsponies that were taking invitations, he couldn’t help but notice the guardsmare who had the very same battleaxe he had just recently finished. His gaze turned to the guard in question what was..a rather VERY large mare indeed. She looked like she stood about seven feet and was very muscular, but had curves in all the right places. However, the face did not match the body at all. She had a soft and adorable face with a long and straight crimson mane that hid half her face and beautiful bright pink eyes that gazed down at Zargan.

“Ticket, please,” she said authoritatively as she held out her armored hand. Zargan blinked a few times as he tried to register this large mare’s appearance before coming back to reality and reached into his tunic before pulling out the ticket and handing it off to her “Here ya are, lass.” he said before she took it and examined it. She gave out a soft gasp before bowing her head to him “I..I apologize for my rather brash tone, Sir. Had I known that you were given one of these..” she said as she began to fidget a bit.

Zargan held up a hand and gently shook his head “Not to worry my dear. I am still rather new to this kind of stuff myself. Ya are perfectly fine.” he said as he reached up and gently patted the armored thigh of the mare “Which way am I headin’?” he asked as if he had already forgotten the whole thing. The mare let out a sigh of relief before looking over at the other guard as she held up his ticket. The guard nodded without a word before taking over the line in her place. “F-Follow me, please. The VIPs are in the upper part of the event hall,” she said as she nervously led him along.

Once they had made it to the room, the mare bowed to him before turning to return to her post. Zargan reached up and grabbed her wrist firmly before smiling up at her “Ya take good care of that axe, ya hear? That pretty girl is one of mine. If ya need her to be tuned up, come find my little shop over in the east part of the city.” he said before releasing her wrist and making his way into the exclusive room. The mare was stunned at whom she had just escorted, and he was so polite and humble. Unlike most of the snobbish assholes, she had to walk to this room. And now, she knew who it was who crafted this wonderful gift that her mother and father had especially made for her. Zargan now understood why such a heavy weapon was asked for now.

As Zargan walked through the crowd of ponies, he noticed that they all had their own cliques. There were the big business owners, the elite nobles, the ambassadors, and even some royal family members of what Zargan assumed to be cusions or outer relatives of the princesses. He made his way over to one of the windows and watched the garden below fill with all sorts of ponies dressed in their best. He took another swig from his flask before letting out a sigh of delight as the mead hit his throat and his belly. He was simply here because he was invited. And that's okay with him.

He was sipping and watching until he heard the sound of hooves approaching him. He placed his flask back on his hip before turning his head to see who was approaching him. Who his eyes laid upon was a vision of absolute beauty. A mare wearing a black and whine red frilly dress whose cleavage was definitely out there for all to see. Her fur was a deep pink and her mane and tail were a deep purple and beautifully straightened and done up in a ponytail. But what really caught Zargan’s attention were the bright amethyst eyes that seemed to have a natural glow to them. Her face was framed by her perfectly parted bangs and the ponytail was held together by some kind of ornate hairpin.

He blinked a few times as he saw those very eyes were looking down upon him. But, not with disdain like most others, they were looking at him with genuine interest. “How can I help ya, lass?” he asked as he turned to face her fully. The mare said nothing at first, only staring down at him from behind her frilly fan before closing it with a flick of her wrist “Well, first off. It is refreshing to see someone greeting me in such a casual manner without putting on a fake smile or trying to rub elbows with me. Second, I have been watching you ever since you have come in. Tell me..that flask you are carrying. How is it not empty by now? You have drunk at least five or six containers worth from what I have been seeing…” she said as she now stood in front of him.

Zargan chuckled and lifted his flask from his belt and held it up to her so she could get a better look “This little thing? It is just somethin’ I put together for this kind of situation is all. Dealin’ with elitist snobs who think they are the next best thin’ since dwarven mead calls for such inventions.” he said as he was blunt about the use of his flask and the reason why he had it with him this evening. The mare continued to look it over with her keen eyes, but couldn’t exactly find what was allowing him to sip from a near infinite source.

She let out a soft “Hmmm” before handing it back to him “I see, quite fascinating indeed. My name is Grape Vine, by the way. A pleasure to make your acquaintance mister…?” she asked as she waited for him to respond. “Ah, Zargan Runespear at your service, my dear. A pleasure to meet ya as well,” he said with a polite bow of his head. Grape smiled from behind her fan once she opened it once more, her eyes narrowing as well “Hmmmm, I would very much like to learn more about you, Mr. Runespear. If you’d please follow me where we can discuss things a bit more privately, I have a business proposition you might find beneficial for both of us…” she said as she motioned him to follow her.

A business proposition? If there was money to be made, Zargan was all ears…

Author's Note

More money for the dwarf? He is all about increasing his earnings to be sure! How will this play out for him?

May the darkness grant you peace.

Act 11: The Wine Mistress Gets Outdealed

The sound of boots and hooves echoed down the corridor as Zargan and Grape Vine walked down to one of the unoccupied rooms that were throughout the long stretch. However, it seems they weren’t alone anymore. Two rather large burly stallions were now following behind them. Zargan assumed that they were her lackeys or bodyguards, which he didn’t have an issue with. Besides, while she was a very beautiful mare, these high society rich types were far from his taste.

Once they had entered into the room, Zargan slammed the door and placed a barrier over the entrance that barred any entry from the bodyguards or anyone else. This shocked the mare before Zargan offered a smile “If we are conductin’ business lass, I can’t have ya strongarmin’ yer way to get what ya want. That simply just isn't fair.” he said before he removed his cloak and sat in one of the armchairs that were in front of the fire. Grape narrowed her eyes but smiled in return “My goodness. You were already thinking that far ahead? This just might be a good deal if you already saw through my most basic plan…” she said as she sat across from him, crossing her legs over one another as she was definitely showing off some soft thigh action.

Zargan leaned back in his chair and lightly tapped his fingers together, completely ignoring the tantalizing view that she was trying to distract him with before a small little drone appeared out of nowhere and started hovering around them both “Don’t mind this little guy, he is simply here to make sure that both of our stories here will match up…should ya decide to take this to the courts for…whatever reason.” he said as he reached from his belt and held up his flask “So, is it the flask yer interested in? Or is it the method of how it refills each time yer after?” he asked as he tossed to flask up and down a few times.

As the fire crackled next to them, she sat there silent for a moment before responding “I want both, actually. I could definitely use a few crates of those flasks for my most loyal of customers who enjoy their wine a little…too much. I could even charge them a monthly rate.” she said as she placed her now closed fan in her lap. “But, if they don’t keep paying that monthly rate, just how exactly are ya gonna keep collectin’, my dear? Drunkards aren’t exactly the most faithful when it comes to maintainin’ payments, ya know,” he said as he had to deal with those kinds of people back in his own world.

Grape Vine nodded in acknowledgment of his observation “But, you’d have a way of making sure that could be fixed, yes? I imagine a brilliant and creative mind like yours could find a way to make sure that they would not skip out on their monthly dues.” she said as she was really trying to butter him up at this point. Standard business practice. But Zargan knew that she was just sizing him up at the moment. “Are you the biggest and most successful vineyard and winery around these parts?” he simply asked as he ignored the compliment entirely. She blinked a few times before nodding in response. “Well, that’s good. So ya don’t gotta worry about competition…for now anyway. There could always be another winery out there growin’ somewhere. Never believe that yer truly the biggest fish, my dear.”

Of course, the mare already thought of something like that, but having him bring it up to her was something that she hadn’t expected of him. Clearly, this being had a lot more business sense than he appeared to have. She thought because of his short stature and messy appearance, he wasn’t exactly the smartest one in the world. But how wrong she was being proven indeed. “And before ya go and try to lay claim to my process and intellectual rights, just know that they have already been patented and trademarked for the next five hundred years. Not that anyone in this world can replicate what can only be crafted by dwarven hands. But if ya so much as attempt to do so, I could have that pony sued into oblivion should I be so inclined.” he said plainly.

And just like that, her next plan was shot down immediately. She would have gotten him to show his method, buy in a few products, and then reverse-engineered it if she could. But now that the process and intellectual rights legally belonged to him, and he would be the only one capable of creating such a method, she was definitely going to have to play fair because now, she had no choice but to do so. Normally, she was used to getting what she wanted. Either by force or by her feminine charm. But it seems that this short, stocky being had her in a rather difficult position. One where the odds were playing in his favor rather than hers, and she did not like that one single bit.

“Ya see, my dear. ‘Runic Magic’ was created by my kind and we have been its sole holder for thousands of years. And now that I have the perfect opportunity to make some coin from it in this world, ya can be damned sure I am gonna profit from it more than anyone else. Between that and my dwarven crafting skills, I believe I have a bright future ahead here…if I never return home that is.” he said before hopping off the chair and standing in front of the fireplace with his hands behind his back, the little drone still circling around them both as it continued to record.

“Now then...I assume that ya wish to perform a trial run before ya lock into an official deal, yes?” he asked as he gazed over his shoulder at her, his icy blue eyes glowing in the shadow of his sockets. “If so, I am willin’ to allow you to take full profits of the trial before official purchase and a formal contract is made. Is this acceptable?” he asked as he focused back on the fire. She sighed but nodded as she squeezed her closed fan as he had painted her into a corner. She was going to have to find a way she could get one over on him for sure.

“I accept these terms..but, how exactly are you going to make such an amazing product that I would willingly agree to this deal..?” she asked with genuine curiosity. Zargan grinned and made a large piece of grid parchment appear along with a pen in his hand before he began to draw on it. In short, it was a barrel with multiple spouts at the bottom, each spout labeled with a different kind of wine that could be transferred into the flask. The drinker would have the choice of their favorite wines of the month with the runes inside of the barrel and the flask to handle the transfers And the runes would be connected to the small pocket dimensions that could be pulled from by simply thinking about the kinds of wine that would be in their personal barrel.

Grape Vine watched him intently as his mind worked away. She was genuinely impressed at his creative process and the fact that she could make some serious money from this idea. The prospect makes her absolutely giddy. “Now then, I can allow the trial to run for a few months. Just to see how ya like the idea. Then we can conduct official business after that time should ya still wish to form an official partnership. Is this arrangement acceptable to you?” he asked as he held out one of his large hands toward her. The mare thought about it long and hard, she’d definitely have to try and find a way to make this work better in her favor, and a few months would definitely be enough time, or so she hoped. But she couldn’t let this deal be offered to any other winery. “These are acceptable terms,” she said as she shook his hand firmly.

Zargan nodded before the drone fell into his other open hand and he stored it away “Then I’d say tonight’s business has concluded then. Get me a list of your most valued customers and I shall begin construction of your trial barrels and flasks.” he said with a grin, knowing he had the mare hooked on the idea at this point. He then released the handshake and made his way back to the door, reaching down and picking up a small device he had dropped before the barrier suddenly vanished and placed it in his pocket. This whole time, she could have done that and things may have gone differently. She would be lying if she said she wasn’t a little upset at how he played her.

“Well, I enjoyed our little business chat, lass. But, If our business is concluded, for now, I am goin’ to rejoin the party. Ya take care and keep warm.” he casually said as he walked past the two burly stallions who looked between him and their mistress. They both come in quickly to make sure that no harm has befallen their employer before she huffs in annoyance “He is definitely going to help bring in profit. But not as much as I hoped to gain from him. He has all his bases covered and he knows that he has me by the tail…I hate this…” she said as she kicks over one of the stools that were in the room.

Zargan made his way back into the main room, a smile on his face showing that was rather pleased with himself and what he had accomplished this fine evening. He thought that he was just going to show up, stay for an hour or two, and just head back home. But he was very wrong. And what was the best part of all this? Making these so called ‘magic barrels and flasks’ wasn’t going to be a problem for him. He simply made it look more intricate than it really needed to be to impress her and get her on board. Looks like this evening wasn’t a total waste of his time after all.

Zargan made his way back to the window he was staring out at while sipping from his flask every now and then. It wasn’t until he heard the familiar sounds of metal clanking against the hard marble floor and the scent of sunshine that he knew exactly who was approaching him “Finished greetin’ the guests for now, princess?” he asked not even turning his gaze to her as his eyes remained glued to the party ponies down below in the garden. Apparently that is where the dancing festivities were happening this evening.

She came up next to him as she was curious to see what he was gazing down at. But she nodded in response to his question “Indeed. How are you enjoying the party so far, Zargab? Is it to your liking?” she asked as she looked over his facial expressions, not really able to get a read on him. Zargan shrugged and finally turned his gaze up to her “I am just gonna tell ya right now. This isn’t the kind of gatherin’ my kind is normally known for attendin’. We like our parties filled with booze and good food with a lot of dancin’ and brawlin’/ I understand ya gotta pander to these snobbish elite types and make sure they are happy. But, come on princess. The food here is unappealin’ and ya could certainly use more stronger beverages here. Sure am glad I brought my own.” he said as he held up his flask a bit.

Celestia gave a little huff as she folded her arms like a pouting child as he spoke to her in such a way. She had worked really hard in preparing this event and does so every single year! He definitely could have put it a much nicer way rather than just shoving his blunt opinion in her face. “W-Well, why did you come here if you didn’t like the idea in the first place? You could have just ignored the invitation and spent your evening all alone in your little hole in the ground..” she said before covering her muzzle in surprise at what she had just said came out of her muzzle.

Zargan shrugged and pulled from his flask once more “I suppose I showed up because it was the polite thin’ to do. I know ya sent this invitation thinkin’ it would sway my feelins’ about bnecoming one of yer subjects and becomin’ exclusive to yer kingdom. Listen here, lass. You can throw all the favors and niceties all ya want at my feet. But ya ain’t gonna change my mind. The only kingdom I pledge my loyalty to is the Kingdom Of The Underground. And that is in another world entirely. I’ll do what I can to help my new friends here. But, that is the extent of it. Don’t, get me wrong, I certainly appreciate what ya have done for me. And if ya need a favor done, I would be happy to. But gettin’ me to join ya ranks just ain’t happenin’.” he said before he reached into his bag of holding and pulled out a rather large chunk of grilled meat. It appeared to be some kind of large fowl leg of sorts, wonderfully seasoned and still hot.

“Now this…this is the kind of food ya need to be servin’. But, yer kind of not into eatin’ meat. Which I can understand.” he said as he took a huge chunk out of the meat with his teeth before making his way out the door “I am gonna go find myself a nice pub in town. You fancy rich folks have yer high society borin’ gettogether.” he said as he waved the cooked leg meat in place of his hand before exiting the room. On the way down the stairs, he walked past the guardsmare who had led him there the first place and gently tapped her thigh with his free hand “Ya take care, my dear. Be good to that axe, and she’ll be good to ya.”. She gave the dwarf a nod before bowing to him slightly in thanks and respect as he departed.

As he was about to take off with his jet boots, he felt a rather forceful hand slam on his shoulder before he casually turned his head to see a rather frustrated looking stallion dressed in the gaudiest and expensive looking attire ever. Even had the massive feather in the brim of his hat and what appeared to be a rapier in his free hand “I say, sir. The way that you spoke to my auntie and one of the princesses of our fair nation is rather rude and uncouth! I demand a duel with you in her honor and for you to prostrate yourself in front of her and apologize upon my victory!” he said as a crowd began to gather in the courtyard to see what all the fuss was about.

Zargan sighed in annoyance before pushing the hand off his shoulder “Ya only think ya want this, lad. But, I can tell by the condition of yer hands that ya haven’t had to fight a day in ya life. Run back to your auntie, boy.” he said as he began to walk away. “Hmph, what a coward…stooping to insults like a brute and running away like a scared little child,” he said as he let out one of those snobbish laughs that really ground against the dwarf’s nerves. He stopped dead in his tracks before slowly turning to face the unicorn stallion and giving him a deadpan stare “Alright, lad. Ya want yer face broken? I can accommodate ya.” he said before turning the face the stallion after walking away a bit further.

“Ah, so you do have a backbone after all! Not that it matters, I am going to be the victor of this duel. Now then, prepare to face me, runt!” he said as he charged forward after pulling out his toothpick of a sword. Zargan just sighed in annoyance and drew his trusty revolver before cranking up the power release to a rather painful amount. He then aimed the weapon at the stallion’s knee before firing one round. The magic bullet connected with a sickening and wet thud as it left a huge hole in the stallion’s kneecap, the unicorn’s face became riddled with pain as he cried out in agony before grabbing at his new wound, spurts of blood spewing into the cold cement tiles as he writhed and crawled along in pain.

“Look what you have done to my new outfit! I paid good money to have this custom made and you have soiled it with blood! I swear by Faust you will pay for thi-!” he said before his threat was cut off by an armored boot to his face, breaking his nose and knocking him out at the same time. He then wiped his bot clean of the blood on the stallion’s fancy shirt before taking to the air with his jet boots “He ain’t gonna die. But I do recommend gettin’ him patched up. Ya all have a wonderful night now.” he said before ascending further before heading off into the night sky, leaving behind a crowd of nobles and guards alike who did not expect that outcome for sure.

Author's Note

Aaand another one for you to all enjoy.

May the darkness grant you peace.

Act 12: A Run In With The Castle Smithies

Zargan sat in what he assumed was the main lobby of the vineyard he had been instructed to visit once he had finished putting the barrels he had promised together for Grape Vine a few days back. It was a rather extravagant building to be sure. It made him think of all those fancy noble party venues that he had seen back in his own world. This place was definitely one of the ritziest ones out of all of Canterlot other than the castle itself. So much decadence in every decoration. The wine mistress certainly spared no expense in showing just how much money she had.

Zargan sat in his chair resting his chin on his fist before he heard the sound of hooves on the hard marble flooring which was so clean that one could eat off it. It even cast a perfect reflection if one looked down at it. His gaze fell upon Grape who was wearing a less formal attire but still maintained an ‘I am better than you’ air about her. It took all the dwarf had to not roll his eyes in disdain for her attitude. But he had to play nice, for this was business. And business equaled money.

“Good afternoon to ya, lass. I got the requested items right here. Just tell me where ya want’em.” he said as he patted his bag of holding. The mare blinked a few times as she looked down at the bag at his side “Surely you jest. There is no possible way you could have fit everythin in that tiny thin…” she said as she didn’t believe him for a moment. “But..then again, you did create something that can pull from one object to another. So I really shouldn’t be surprised. Please, follow me then.” she said as she motioned for him to follow her down to her cellar.

“So, before I set up everythin’, grab all your workers who deal with the changin’ out of the barrels n’ such. I will leave behind a set of instructions, but I will be kind enough to show them all how it is done once. I can’t be here the whole day.” he said as he made it very clear that he wasn’t going to stay any longer than he had to. Grape nodded before whispering to one of her bodyguards to go and gather all the vineyard employees who dealt with the cellar. While most of them were already down there, there were a few who had other duties as well.

Once everyone who needed to be down there was, Zargan reached into his bag and pulled out six of his ‘magical barrels’ and placed them down neatly together “Right then, listen and listen good ya lot…” he said as he patted the top of one of the barrels before going on to explain the inner workings of the barrels and even going as far as to set one of them up for them. After that was done, he and Grape headed back up to the main floor.

“Alright, lass. Your duration on those barrels is a good few months. Also, here are the flasks that are connected to those barrels, they are both paired with the numbers on the bottom of the flasks so ya know which barrel goes to which one. In the time I mentioned, they will become just plain ol’ barrels and flasks. After all, this is a trial run. I can’t let ya get away with stealin’ from me.” he said as he placed the small box in her hands before bowing his head and departing “I look forward to hearing the results when I return and hope we can form a proper deal.” he said before making his exit, not even bothering to stay for a glass of the vineyard’s finest wine. Then again, he didn’t want to owe her anything, even the smallest favor could be used against him later down the road.

Zargan walked along the streets of Canterlot as the sound of thunder rang out above him. He looked up as a couple of raindrops hit his face before he let out a sigh of annoyance. “Well, good thin’ I am in the neighborhood of one of my favorite pubs…” he said as he turned down an alleyway and moved as quickly as he could to avoid getting completely soaked. Perhaps he could find himself a good meal and a strong drink to wait out the incoming storm.

Zargan pushed the door open to a little place called ‘The Golden Horseshoe Pub & Inn’. It was a quaint little place, but these types always served the best food and drink, unlike those rich bars that watered down your drinks and gave you lousy propositions with food orders. As an inn, it had an upper floor that had ten rooms that could be rented out nightly. The pub was fairly active at this time, but not to the point where it gets in the evening when it is bustling with customers.

Zargan walked up to his usual spot at the bar before climbing onto his favorite stool and eyeing the old barmaid with a smile “Maggie ya old hag. How ya doin’ today?” he asked with a toothy grin. The old mare turned around to see who called her an old hag, getting ready to absolutely smash the mug she had in her hand against their head. But when she saw it was Zargan, she smiled back and retorted “Zargan, you short stubby bastard! Good to see you again! The usual I presume?” she asked as she made her way to the tap to prepare his favorite beverage.

“Aye, and some grab while you are at it. What’s today’s special?” he asked as he clasped his hands on the bartop while waiting for his drink. “Cheddar potato soup with a biscuit on the side. It's an old family recipe,” she said as she placed the large mug of beer in front of him. “One large bowl of that, please. I finally get the chance to try the soup that your daughter has raved about ever since I first came here,” he said as he placed the bits down needed to pay for the food and drink.

‘Maggie’, a name affectionately given to her by Zargan was the owner of this fine establishment with her children and grandchildren running the place. It had been in their family for generations. Magenta Sky being her real name, smiled and took the bits before placing them in the drawer where she kept the daily profits. “How has the family been, Maggie?” he asked before taking a sip of his drink while he waited for his food to arrive.

Magenta leaned forward on the bar top as they spoke “Well, the kiddos are doing their part here. Soon enough though, their own children will be picking up some work around here too. My own daughter is going to be taking over as the barmaid. I am getting way too old for this…” she said as she rubbed her back and sides a bit. Zargan chuckled and shook his head “Bah, ya still got many, many years left ya ol’ bag. Besides, ya can’t retire because of some aches n’ pains.” he said as he waited for her to respond. “I will piss in your food, you short fucker.” she said with a false look of anger on her face.

“It would probably improve what you call ‘food’ here if ya did,” he said with an arched brow. It was quiet between them for a moment before they both laughed “Let me know if you need anything else, hon. I am going to run back into the kitchen and check on things. Keep an eye out for me?” she asked as she started to head back in the back “I gotcha, Maggie.” he said as he lifted his mug slightly. Despite their harsh words to one another, it was all for fun. Neither meant the insults they said to one another, it was just some playful jabs between friends, as Zargan has been coming to this pub ever since he started doing business here in Canterlot. The moment he met Magenta, she reminded him of the feisty grandmother he had back home and it made him feel all warm and nostalgic.

As Zargan sat at the bar, a group of ponies in what appeared to be a form of fancy uniforms. From what the dwarf could gather, they appeared to be from the castle. But he wasn’t quite sure about what they did there. They weren’t guards, as they possessed no armor. However, once they laid eyes upon Zargan, they pointed at him as they whispered among themselves, a couple of the larger stallions giving him a rather disapproving gaze. Zargan simply smiled and raised the mug in greeting to them with a smile. He wasn’t going to let them ruin his afternoon with their sour attitudes.

As he was finishing up his soup which had been wonderfully prepared, the two larger stallions stood up and made their way over to the dwarf who heard them approaching before he turned around on his stool “What can I do for ya, lads?” he asked as he placed his hands on his thighs. The stallions looked between one another before one of them spoke “Are you the damned new blacksmith that is taking all of our customers?” he asked with a low growl in his voice, obviously thinking that size would intimidate the dwarf.

“Aye, that’d be me. And it isn’t my fault that I am making your customers happy with my metalwork. If I got this right, and ya are the castle smithy. Then ya need to up your quality or the things you call ‘weapons’ will shatter in the hands of those who are tryin’ to protect this nation. I am sure ya got all the fundin’ that you need to make better stuff…or are ya boys just taking the extra money for yaselves hmm?” asked the dwarf who arched a brow, wondering if that was really the case.

The stallion that spoke reached out and grabbed Zargan by the collar of his shirt and tried to lift him up, seems the dwarf was heavier than he looked! “Shut the fuck up, you little piece of garbage. No, you listen here, you are gonna stop stealing our business and find a new line of work. Or we will make your life more miserable than you can imagine. Close. Up. Your. Shop.” he growled again. “Hey, if you are gonna cause trouble in my pub, get the fuck out and leave my patrons be!” shouted Magenta as she hold up a rather hefty broomstick that she may or may not have to beat a few troublemakers with.

Zargan held a hand up to keep his friend from getting involved, but the other stallion said something he shouldn’t have said: “Quiet, you old bitch, this is business and it needs to be handled.”. Zargan’s eye twitched in anger as he lifted a hand into the stallion’s face who was holding onto his shirt. The palm of his gauntlet glowed brightly before sending back a powerful wave of energy knocking both him and his buddy back into a couple of tables. They flop across the floor like a couple of ragdolls and groan in pain before Zargan stands over them with his hand still aimed at them as the light pulses audibly.

“Now then…the only one who gets to call ehr old anythin’ is me, you fuckin’ ill-mannered gobshites. Now go the fuck back to ya badger holes. And if ya want your customers back, make better quality stuff, not the shite that you are makin’ that ya spread butter on toast with. And take your friends with ya too.” she said as he tilted to the other stallions who were already on their way out. The stallions slowly make their way to their hooves and begin limping on their way out “This…isn’t over..not by a longshot…” he grunted in pain.

“Ya are more than welcome to come and attack my shop directly, boys. But I don’t think ya will enjoy what would be there waitin’ for ya. Ya might end up leaving with a few missin’ limbs or worse.” he said as he lowered his hand down once they had all cleared out. Once they had left, Zargan sighed before helping Magenta fix up the chairs and tables that had been thrown about the pub, putting things back the way they were. He owed her that much since they were there for him.

“Sorry for the trouble, Maggie. Seems that the competition at the castle isn’t happy about me takin’ all the profit for myself. Ain’t my fault though.” he said as he handed her the broom back he used to sweep up a bit of broken glass before tossing it into the trash can. Magenta shook her head before returning behind the bar “It's alright, hon. I appreciate you sticking up for me nonetheless. And you got them to leave before too much damage occurred.” she said as she poured him another one of his favorite drinks for thanks.

Zargan took his place at the bar before smiling wickedly “Like I said, I am the only one who gets to call ya old.”. She lifts the drink towards her muzzle and pretends to spit in it before handing the drink off to him “Keep talking, see what happens.” she retorted before smiling and going back to cleaning the unused mugs. He smiled back before beginning to sip on his drink, letting the rainy afternoon roll by until it had stopped.

As soon as the rain had stopped, he had begun to make his way back to his shop. Even in his tipsy state, the dwarf was alert and knew he was being followed by someone. He pretended to be more drunk than he was as he stumbled around to really sell the performance. He made his way down an alleyway, the cloaked figure following behind him before they came into an opening between alleys. The dwarf stopped and turned to face the figure before offering a knowing grin “Did ya come here on the behalf of those shite smithies then?” he asked as he readied himself for a fight.

The figure quickly put their hands up in front of them before shaking their head vigorously “N-NO! I am not here to cause you trouble, please!” they said as they lowered their hood slowly, revealing the face of what appeared to be a griffon. Now that Zargan had gotten a good look, it was a female griffon with black feathers with deep purple fading accent coloring and a long feathered hairstyle that fell down her back. She dropped to her knees and lowered herself down, pressing her forehead to her hands “Please…I merely seek an apprenticeship from you, Master Zargan…I beg you, take me under your wing!” she said with an earnest tone in her voice.

Zargan blinked a few times at the display. Who exactly was this griffon? And how did she know of his craft? He had come to learn through books and word of mouth that griffons were normally a very proud race in this world, but to see one bowing so low to him right now was what he’d never expected. “Just..who in the world are ya, lass?” he asked lowering his guard just a bit at the sudden display.

She lifted her head from the ground, but continued to remain kneeled before him “O-Oh, my name is Laelah! And I am the daughter of a smithy from Griffonstone! And I heard so many wonderful things from friends of mine about your work, and I wish to learn! Please!” she said as she lowered hermhead once more.

Author's Note

Aaand the shortboi is baaaack. Hope you all enjoy this chapter.

May the darkness grant you peace.

Act 13: The Guiding Hands Of A Warsmith

Zargan stood outside the entrance to his shop as he turned to see that the griffon had followed him even after he had denied her the apprenticeship a few times now. This girl was very persistent in her pursuit of becoming a blacksmith apparently. The dwarf sighed before crossing his arms while looking up at her as he leaned against the entryway “Why do ya wanna become a blacksmith so bad, lass? Can’t ya get your father to teach ya?” he asked as it was a genuine question.

However, she responded without missing a beat “Well…due to an accident, he can't swing his hammer like he used to…he really messed up his shoulder that his hammering arm is connected to. And as you know, you can be a blacksmith if you can’t lift a hammer. And I have heard many good things about you, Master Zargan. I have a rather close friend here who is part of the guard who you made a battleaxe for. Her name is Crimson Fury. Big and muscular mare, though a rather adorable face that throws folks off.”.

Zargan simply nodded in response, seems that a warrior worth her salt had told this griffon about his work. “Tell me, Laelah. Is this for just your father’s sake? Or is blacksmithing something ya want to do for yourself as well? Dependin’ upon your answer, I may be sendin’ ya away. As smithin’ is something that must be done because ya want to do it. So be honest with me. I will be able to tell if ya are lyin’....” he said as he crossed his arms awaiting her response.

The griffon responded quickly once again “Yes, part of it is for my father’s sake. But I have always wanted to be a blacksmith ever since I watched my father toil away in his shop since I was little. He was a griffon who took pride in his work and made weapons, armor…whatever the customer wanted him to make so long as it was metalwork. And I have admired that about him since forever. So, please...I am begging you, Master Zargan. Please teach me how to be a proper blacksmith…please!” she said as she lowered her head when she bowed in front of him.

Zargan could tell right away she was showing her heart to him, not a single lie in what she had said to him whatsoever. Not only that, but the story itself pulled at his heartstrings enough for him to at least assess her and what she was capable of “Very well, but ya have to promise me that ya will do exactly what I say and when I say it. I can’t give ya the ability to become a dwarven level blacksmith, but I can certainly get ya damn near as good. Are ya ready for this?” he’d say as he motioned her to follow him inside as he opened the door.

Laelah let out a gasp of happiness as she bounced on her claws before nodding rapidly “Yes, master! Anything you say!” she said as she quickly followed behind him, the door shutting and locking once they were both inside. The walk down was quiet, but once the griffon laid eyes on his shop, her golden yellow eyes widened to the size of dinner plates as she gasped when looking upon his wall of creations. From the armor to the weapons, the girl was astounded at what she was looking upon.

“These…these are all yours, Master? These are some top quality weapons and armor…! I know I made the right call in tracking you down! I can’t wait for you to teach me!” she said with enthusiasm. Zargan grabbed a pair of lightly used leather gloves before turning to her “Don’t get too excited yet, lass. I am about to ask ya to do somethin’ that might send ya runnin’ out of here.” he said as he motioned her to stand in the middle of the room before simply saying “Strip.” he said as he crossed his arms and waited. “Down to ya undies,” he said with a straight face.

The response he got from her was definitely not one he expected. She quickly moved to where he had pointed and began removing her clothes like it was something she didn’t care about “Oh, is that all? Sure thing, Master!” she said as she now stood there in nothing but a black bra and underwear. Zargan blinked a few times at her eagerness to strip but resumed what he was about to do nonetheless.

The dwarf circled around the griffon who wasn’t really ashamed of showing off what she had, which worked for the dwarf as he assessed exactly what she’d need to work on. He’d run his hands up and down her back, shoulders, hips, and thighs before reaching up to her arms. He was doing this with a completely serious look on his face, and the way he was touching and grabbing at her, she could tell it wasn’t for a sexual reason. From what he could see and feel, this griffon was no stranger to hard labor as not only did she have the muscle, but she had the burns and rough hands of a blacksmith in the making.

Satisfied with what he had seen, he took off his gloves and walked over to his forge “Alright, lass. Ya can get dressed. Grab one of the aprons hangin’ on the hooks over here and let's see how well ya swing a hammer. You got the body for it, yes. But I need to see your form to know where ya are at.” he said as he walked over to the anvil and picked up one of his spare hammers. There was no way he was going to let someone inexperienced use his beloved dwarven smithing hammer, not that they’d be able to lift it in the first place.

“Alpha, are ya around, my dear?” he called out to the very first golem he had created. The fem construct came out from one of the back rooms as she noticed not just Zargan, but the griffon as well “I am here, Master~. How can I be of service?” she asked as she swayed her tail as she peeks from out of the room. “Ah, there ya are, sweetheart. Could ya please get me some iron ingots from the metal storage? Thank ya.” he said as he turned his attention back to Laelah.

“Alright, lass. From what I can see, this isn’t ya first time around a forge. But, if ya plan on learnin’ from me, pretend like ya don’t know a damn thing about smithin’. You are startin’ from scratch. That understood?” he asked as he pointed the handle end toward the griffon, waiting for her to take it in hand. Laelah didn’t understand his words at first, but she couldn’t question his methods as she had seen exactly what his craftsmanship was all about just a few moments ago. She simply nodded before responding with “Yes, Master. I am ready!”.

Over the next few hours, the griffon failed at making a basic dagger blade over and over as Zargan watched carefully without saying a word with his arms folded over his chest and a stern look in his eyes. One thing she’d learn quickly is that the dwarf didn’t sugarcoat his lessons. If she messed up, he would grab the piece of metal she was working on and toss it into the smelter to be broken down again for later use without a single word before slamming another ingot onto the anvil before stepping back and letting her take another go at it. He could easily tell her what she was doing wrong, but each time he stopped her, she was slowly figuring out her mistakes.

It got to the point where it was late in the evening. Zargan looked down at the rough, but decent dagger blade she had worked hard to make. After she had placed it into the cooling bucket, Zargan reached in with the tongs and pulled it out, looking over the work she had done “It's not perfect, but ya are on the right track. Just remember the movements ya improved on with each mistake ya made with the swing of your hammer this evening. Remember, ya gotta put your whole body into each swing, not just ya arm.” he said as he took the hammer from her and placed it next to the other spares.

While she hadn’t expected any kind of praise from him, that one little bit of it was enough to bring her spirits up. She nodded before letting out a long yawn and stretching her arms over her head and her wings as far out as she could. “Ya got a place to stay, lass?” he asked as he shut down the forge for the evening, a couple of the fem constructs tidying up the store as it gets ready to close down fully for the evening.

“Tes, Master. I am staying at my friend’s place. Her parents have been kind enough to put me up for my duration here. But, I can’t wait for my next lesson from you, Master. When do I come back?” she asked as she took off the smithing apron and hung it where she got it from earlier. “Same time we started today. Don’t be late. Ya here?” he responded before walking her up the stairs and out the front door. “I will be here even earlier than that, promise!” she said before grabbing both his hands “Thank you so much for taking time away from yourself to teach me, Master. You won’t target it, I promise!” she said before running off into the night.

Over the next six weeks, Laelah learned under Zargan’s tutelage while taking all of his lessons to heart. As he continued to work with her, he couldn’t help but admire her enthusiasm and desire to use her hands to create things. He noticed that she particularly preferred making armor more than anything else even though he was teaching her to be a well rounded smith that could do both armor and weapons. Once she had presented him with the last piece of a nearly full set of mythril armor she had been working on, he reached up and patted her on the head with one of his large meaty hands, offering the young woman a smile for the first time throughout the whole time she was learning from him “Alright, lass. I have taught ya as far as I can take ya. As I said, dwarven craftin’ is a whole other level. But with what ya have learned with me, Ya are pretty damn close.”.

The griffon returned the smile as she felt like a huge burden had been lifted from her shoulders. She couldn’t help but kneel down in front of Zargan and wrap her arms around him as best she could into a tight and warm hug. Before she found him, she wasn’t sure of her and her family’s future, but now, she had a fighting chance to survive, and be a daughter that her father could be proud of “Thank you soooo much, Master…really. You didn’t have to share this knowledge with me at all. And yet you took your own time away from yourself to teach this griffon without asking anything in return. I owe more than words can explain. Not just for my sake, but for my future family too. As I plan on passing this knowledge down to my own children as well. So again, thank you..a thousand times thank you..” she said as she chirped happily.

Zargan hesitantly wrapped his own arms around the young lady before gently patting her back “Ya are welcome, las. To be honest, I wasn’t gonna take you on as long as I did. But seein’ ya work so hard and not givim' up when the lessons got tougher…well it made me want to keep on teachin’ ya. Ya showed me that ya not only wanted to learn blacksmithin’ as a job to make money but because you enjoyed doin’ it. I have seen how ya move your body, how you smile while hammerin’ away, and the focus in your eyes. I..I am proud to call ya one of my students, Laulah. Just make one promise to me. Do not share my knowledge with those who simply seek profit. As I said, blacksmithin’ is a profession of passion and desire, not just a tool for makin’ money.”.

Laelah nodded a few times before reaching forward and taking one of the dwarf’s hands into her before squeezing firmly “You have my word, Master. Not even on pain of death will I give up your teachings to those who don’t deserve it.” she said before giving him the most sincere expression she had given him. The dwarf nodded before placing a hand atop her head and gently rubbing it “Atta girl. Now then, for these gauntlets, ya are makin’ for the final pieces of your armor set, I wish to make them a little bit more special as a partin’ gift for ya. Is there anything ya wish ya could have a leg up on? Speed, dexterity? That kind of stuff.” he asked as he waited for her answer.

Already knowing what she wanted she hoped side to side on her talons “Oh oh oh, strength, please! I want the same kind of strength that my Master showed me with his hands. The very hands that taught and guided me…” she said before turning around and getting to work on her gauntlets. Zargan couldn’t help but feel all warm inside at this. Never had someone seen him in such a light before, it made him feel rather nice for once. Like someone actually appreciated him.

Once the gauntlets had been completed, Zargan took each piece of the plated gauntlets and proceeded to carve a couple of runes into each side. With his magic flowing into the pieces at the same time. Laelah watched in great fascination as she had never seen her master do this before. Once that part of it was done, he reached over and took her hand before placing it on both gauntlets before channeling his own magic through her body. “What…what is this Master..?” she said as the magic flowing through her made her body feel all warm and tingly.

“This is what I have come to call ‘ soul bindin’ ‘, lass. After I get done with the enhancements, I shove a little bit more magic through ya into the items so that way it can only be used by ya. It feels like ya are carryin’ a ton of ingots if ya are the one bound to it. A little safety measure, ya know?” he said as he released her hand after the process was completed. “Now, only ya and I can lift these. I need to be able to lift them just in case ya need some maintenance done to them. But, so long as ya keep it clean and never let it rust, it’ll keep ya safe. Understood?”.

Laelah picked up the gauntlets and let out a slight gasp as she felt the magic flowing throw them like a low hum of electricity. It was a power that she had never known efore and she was in awe at his craftsmanship “Thank you again, Master…for everything. I promise I won’t ever let you down or let your god name be tarnished. You have given my family another chance. I will forever be in your debt.” she said before hugging him once more.

Later that day, Zargan was toiling away in his shop when there was a knock at his shop door. He blinked a few times before heading up the stairs as the knocks sounded more frantic now than before. He opens it up to see the large guardsmare who was the friend of Laelah who looked like she had been running a marathon to get her. He noticed the look of worry on her face as she gasped for air “Mr…Z-Zargan..!” she said between huffs. “It’s Laelah..>! She has been taken into..custody because..the…castle smithies said..she stole some armor..from them!” she said as she leaned against the doorway for support.

Zargan’s eyes widened for a moment before narrowing sharply as he slowly balled his fists, he let out a low growl of anger as his eyes began to glow and his own magic began to radiate heavily around his body “So then…they couldn’t get to me…so they decided to pull her into this…I will fuckin’ break their arms and legs for this…” he said he immediately went to seek out the gauntlets before anything. After all, where they might have dropped, might hold a clue as to what really happened. Either way, involving his student in their little squabble was something the dwarf wasn’t going to tolerate, no way in hell….

Author's Note

Hmmm, seems like the dwarf isn't all about being calculating and greedy after all. Seems that he has a soft spot for his beloved student.

May the darkness grant you peace.

Act 14: The Wrath Of A Warsmith

It was late afternoon by the time Zargan finally tracked down the armored gauntlets that he had soul bound for his student. He had found them lying in an out of the way alleyway. Of course, they’d strike where there would be the least witnesses. Zargan walked up to the gauntlets and knelt down before picking them up and examining them thoroughly, still as brand new as the day he made them with her. Just as he was about to place the gauntlets in his bag of holding for safekeeping, a piece of paper fell out from one of the scale plate pieces. The dwarf blinks a few times before opening it up and reading what was written down.

Dear Master Zargan,

I don't know if you will ever find this letter, I..don't exactly know what's going to happen to me. I am hiding right now from my pursuers in this alleyway. I..I am scared, Master...I want to get back home to my family so that I can spread your good name. But they won't stop searching for me. They said that it is your fault that this is happening because you refused to shut down your forge. But I know that this isn't your fault. You can't let these thugs intimidate you. Please, don't ever stop doing what you do. This isn't your fault! It never will be-...

The letter abruptly ends, and a few blood droplets could be seen dotting the page as he looked upon it. The dwarf’s heart started pounding heavily in his ears, louder than he had ever swung down his hammer in his life, his magical aura pulsating in snce as anger flooded his emotions like the raging rivers of his homeworld, his gloves threatening to rip apart with how tight he was squeezing his fists “I am gonna make sure…those two shitstains will never be able to lift a god damned hammer or anything else like that ever again…” he growled lowly in fury before his full set of armor trailed up his arm from his gauntlet and soon covered his whole body, the helmet being that last piece to cover his head before the blue light shone to life from behind his visor before lifting off into the air with all jets firing at full throttle toward the castle.

The front castle courtyard was a buzz with the usual visitors and guards, and it wasn’t until the sound of Zargan’s jets brought the attention of the ponies below that put the guards on alert as the dwarf landed hard, leaving a crater five times the size of himself, causing a rather large circular wave of dust and debris to flow out, nothing but the light of his visor visible as he walked forward slowly with his hammer and tower shield equipped. The guards, who had actually fallen from the impact wave, quickly got up from their downed state before grabbing their weapons and began surrounding the dwarf quickly with their weapons drawn on him.

Zargan was not in the mood to mess with these ponies. If they dared to attack him, he was going to be breaking a few bones. Whatever he had had to do to get to his student. “Stop, in the name of her royal highness!” shouted the one whom Zargan assumed was in command of the group. Zargan simply lifted his head toward the commander “Tell me where I can find your castle smithies, and I won’t be causin’ any trouble toward the rest of this place. They have someone who is..rather important to me. And I am not leavin’ without her. A griffon named Laelah.” he said as he stepped forward a bit more, clearly not intimidated by the weapons trained on him.

The commander went quiet for a moment before answering, “Aaah yes, the thieving little bird who stole a full set of mythril armor from our smithies? Yes, she is being detained at the moment and is awaiting trial for her crimes. She is someone to you then?” he asked as he crossed his arms waiting for a response. Zargan’s blood began to boil as he heard the guard say that the smithies had claimed the armor was their creation. “So, that’s the lie they are spreadin’, is it? Tell me, do ya have the WHOLE entire set of armor that they claimed they made?” Zargan asked before reaching into his bag before pulling out the gauntlets “Or are ya missin’ one crucial piece right here?” he said as he held it up to show the commander the set of gauntlets.

The commander started sweating bullets at this point, as he was told by the smithies that there was no way the gauntlets could have been found by anyone, or picked up for that matter “
Th-That could be part of any set of armor! Quit trying to trick your way into releasing your thief of a friend from their crime. Or else I will toss you in the dungeons myself!” he said as he stood his ground with his fellow guards. Zargan sighed and placed the gauntlets back in his bag before redrawing his hammer and getting into a combat stance “Very well then, I will fuckin’ beat the answer out of you then.’.

Zargan flew forward with a charging jet boot boost, his shield firmly connecting to the torso of the guard who was most unfortunate enough to be in his way, sending them flying twenty feet back like a ragdoll. Not even giving time for the others to prepare, he swings his hammer right into the ribs of the guard next to them, sending them to the ground before leaping back from an incoming sword strike, then blocking a spear that came from his right.

The dwarf angles his shield just slightly enough to make the spear’s momentum work in his favor against the guard, using it to force them off balance before shield bashing them in the head hard enough to force their helmet to go flying, followed by a few large globes of blood flying from their muzzle as they slowly spun a few times before hitting the ground. It seemed that at this point, Zargan was unstoppable, beating down every single guard that got even slightly close to him.

However, the more guards he put down, the more seemed to join the fray. At this point, Zargan stood there breathing heavily. The only reason why he hadn’t sustained any real injuries was because there weren’t any easy access points to getting under his armor, but he was starting to get run down by the sheer numbers. Zargan started backing away slowly as he continued panting and growling in anger, the guards starting to circle him as he backed up against a wall.

“Well, lads. Looks like ya get to be my test dummies after all.’..” he said as the shield and hammer disappeared from his hands before he lifted them above his head, and a strange longing object appeared above him before he grabbed it with both hands and held it at his waist. “Boys, I’d like you all to meet Sasha, my latest good girl…” he said as he pointed the large set of rotating barrels toward the approaching group. The large cylindrical chamber below the processing unit pulsating as Zargan charged it full of his magic as it pulled from his ridiculously massive magic reservoir “Now is a good time for ya all to run…”.

They didn’t heed his warning, so with that, the spinning of the barrels reached their top speed before the barrels began spitting out small, concentrated bullets of magic. Thankfully, Zargan thought better about it and put it on the non-lethal setting. It wasn't going to kill them, but it was going to put them all on the ground for a good while. “OOOOOH FUUUUU-!” one of the guards shouted before he and all the others were being mowed down by this unfamiliar weapon. Zargan suddenly had the upper hand as he pushed forward slowly but surely, not even giving the other guard a chance to advance or even run away.

Soon enough, every guard but the commander was down and knocked out. Zargan walked forward with the barrels still spinning and pointing at the now covering commander who was trying to scoot back away from Zargan “Now then, are ya gonna tell me where I can find your friends and my student then? Or am I gonna have to turn this on lethal mode and put lots of holes in ya? See, these guards didn’t deserve this. You are the one who sent them to face down this monster…” he said as he suddenly flipped the switch to full on lethal mode, the chamber holding the magic reddening now.

“Okay, okay! I’ll tell you! I’ll even show you, just please!” he said as he continued to cower in fear of potentially being torn apart by such a weapon. Zargan stood there for a moment before making the magical minigun disappear and pulled out his trusty revolver before pointing it at the commander “Ya will lead me and not make a fuss or try and get anyone else’s attention, or one of these is gonna go right in your spine. Do ya understand..?” he asked with a low growl. The guard stood up on shaky legs before nodding multiple times before leading Zargan to where the smithies were holding Laelah.

Turns out, she wasn’t even being held in the castle dungeons. It was in a secret underground hideout where the smithies conducted illegal business. Boy, Zargan couldn’t wait to show the princess all this, to be sure. And the place was most definitely filled with traps, so he used the commander to either trigger them for him or disable them, enabling him to get through scott free. Soon enough, they came across a wall that the guard had to touch a certain few blocks in a certain way, making sure to memorize it thoroughly himself. “Alright…just go down this halfway and through that door…she is in there. Now pelase? Can I go..??” he asked as he still kept his back toward the dwarf, not wanting to make any sudden moves.

Zargan went quiet for a moment before nodding “Sure, you can go. It's gonna be a long crawl for you, though.” he said before the hammer on his revolver cocked, and a magic bullet was planted right into the guard’s spine, snapping it and making him drop to the ground like a sack of potatoes, immediately paralyzing him from the waist below. The guard let out an agonizing cry of pain as he began to crawl away pathetic while Zargan stepped over him like he was garbage “Not like ya will be getting far anyway since ya were involved in this…” he simply stated.

Zargan kicked in the door hard enough that the whole lock on the inside simply fell off as the door flew off its hinges and slid across the floor. One of the smithies was making a quick grab for Laelah, who was tied up and blindfolded before a magic bullet was fired into the back of his knee, causing him to fall to the ground in front of her and grab at his knee in pain, aiming his revolver at the other smithy who now had his hands up.

“Well, well, ya slimy pieces of gobshite thought I wouldn’t find out what ya have done, huh? Ya fuckin’ thought I wouldn’t retaliate and come lookin’ for ya myself? And ya thought to attack MY student because ya couldn’t get my smithin’ secret from me?!” Zargan yelled as his anger rose even higher now that he could see a few injuries all over Laelah’s arms and face. He lifted his gauntlet toward his face before speaking into it “Alpha, Beta, to my location, will you, my dears?” he asked before two of his fem constructs appeared in a blinding light next to him.

“Hold them both down, please. With their hands out in front of them,” he ordered. Before the two stallions could protest, the two heavy constructs leaped on them and pinned them down with their knees in the back and their hands wrapped firmly around their wrists, forcing their hands out in front of them. Zargan placed his revolver in its holster behind him before walking up to gently rub Laelah’s cheek to make sure she was alright “Are ya alright, my dear..?” he asked in a soft and gentle tone.

“M-Master..? You…you came..?” she asked, rather shocked but happy to see that he cared enough for her to do so. “Of course, I came for ya, lass. I may be a rough teacher, but I still care a great deal for ya when you aren’t under my hammer,” he said before cutting her ropes loose and helping her sit down, knowing full well she might be weak from her ordeal before removing her blindfold, seeing a scar had been newly formed over her right eye.

“No..they..did they..?” he asked as he reached up to examine her eye. Thankfully, Laelah tells him that it was only just the skin that got cut and not the eye itself. Still, that was enough to send Zargan’s anger into the danger zone once more. “Just…wait here. Ya may want to close your eyes and cover your ears for this…” he said before standing up and walking over to the now squirming smithies as a dagger appeared in his right hand.

“Ya know, on my way down here. I was thinkin’ about many, many ways how I could punish ya for what ya had done….” he said as he twirled the dagger around in his hand “I thought about crushin’ ya hands with my hammer. But, but then I thought of a better idea.” he said as he kneeled down and took one of the stallions wrists into his hand and slowly brought the blade to rest between the thumb and index finger” Riiiight here..is where a crucial part of the hand is for holding hammers or any matter of weapon or tool really. It's a tendon that without it, ya can’t hold shit.” he said before he began slowly cutting into that very spot, the stallion kicking and screaming as Zargan slowly saws through that very same tendon before he cuts clean through it, doing the same with his other hand and then the same thing to the other stallion, even carving deep X gashes into the tops of their hands.

Zargan then grabbed hold of their faces and plunged the dagger into one of the eyes each before digging it out and cutting it free of the optic nerves before tossing them into a corner for the rats to nibble on. The stallions wrote in pain before passing out, the constructs removing themselves from the stallions before walking over to Laelah, who had managed to get to her talons. They help steady the poor girl before Zargan gathers up her armor that was stolen from the griffon, even returning the gauntlets so that she could have a full set once more.

“Alpha, Beta, please see to her and make sure she is alright, get her anything she needs: food, water, even a little bit of extra money. You know which cobblestone I keep the stash under. And then get her out of town, and on her way back home, her family has been kept waiting long enough.” The constructs nod, supporting the griffon before she runs forward, collapsing into the dwarf with as tight of a hug as she could give “Master...Master, thank you so so much for coming for me! I hope…I hope to see you again soon. I love you, Master!” she said as she nuzzled into his now exposed face.

Of course, she didn’t mean she romantically loved him, but she saw the dwarf as more of a grandfatherly figure than anything. And she considered him part of her family now. Zargan lifted both his gloved hands up to her cheeks and gently rubbed them before gently tapping them with the palm of his hands “Ya are a good girl, Laelah. Ya stay safe and come back when ya get things running smoothly back home, ya hear?” he said before handing her the bag that had her armor in it. She gave a nod before the two constructs disappeared with her into the bright blue light they appeared in.

Zargan knew what was about to come next. But, if it was to save his student, it was worth it. He reached into his bag of holding and pulled out his flask before taking a VERY long swig from it and slowly making his way back to the surface.

Author's Note

Retributiioooooooooooooon. Well deserved for those two assholes. The question is..why the princesses understand why he did what he did? Will he get some jail time for it? We shall see how it all unfolds.

May the darkness grant you peace.

Act 15: The Trial & Prison Time

As Zargan came out of the underground hideout, what was waiting for him was exactly what he expected. A platoon of guards with their weapons drawn and even some archers on the walkway above them, along with Celestia behind the guards with her arms crossed and a look of great disapproval upon her face. Zargan took one more big swig from his flask before placing it back into his bag of holding along with his pistol before holding out his hands “If ya are gonna slap irons on me, ya better do it now.” he said as he lowered his head.

Celestia nodded to one of the guards before they slowly approached the dwarf. They secured the shackles firmly before placing a hand on his back and began escorting him to the dungeons to await further punishment. As he walked past Celestia, he stopped for a moment before speaking, “Before ya go throwin’ all the guilt my way, Here’s a letter that was found by the victim of a kidnapping that I was fightin’ to save. Your kidnappers and one of your commanders who was involved are still down in that hideout. Watch out for the traps that are down there.” he said as he then walked on with the several guards who were taking him to the dungeons.

Celestia blinked a few times before taking the letter that one of the other guards had taken from Zargan. As she read it, she looked toward some of the other guards “Be careful heading down there. If he says there are traps, I am inclined to believe him. Stay vigilant.” she ordered. “Yes, Your Highness!” the group of guards said as they started their way into the hideout. Sure enough, the guards returned with both smithies and the now paralyzed commander and promptly took them to medical before locking them up after patching them up.

Zargan sat in the cell they had put him in for the time being, with his head lower and his arms resting on his knees. The guards tried removing his gauntlets and his bag from him before they put him in, but try as they might, they couldn’t get the items removed, even going as far to strip him down to nothing but his underwear, but the items never even once budged from his body simply because he wouldn’t allow it, his magic keeping his items bound to him. The perks of soul bound items, it seems.

While he was alone, he lifted his gauntlet toward his face before speaking into it “Alpha, is Laelah safe and on her way back to her family?” he asked as he waited for a response. “Yes, Master~. We got her everything she needed and a little extra to get her on her way. How are you fairing?” she asked with worry in her voice, as he had not returned home yet. “Well...I am afraid...I am bein’ held in the castle dungeons for the time bein’. And no, I don’t want ya and the girls to come and bust me out. I know what I did. And if I gotta serve a bit of jail time, then so be it.”.

Zargan knew how his constructs would react. He heard Alpha sigh sadly before she responded, “Yes, Master..we will make sure the shop is well protected and clean whenever you return. We..will miss you..” she said as she felt her core start to ache a bit. Zargan offered a smile before responding back, “Don’t ya worry, sweetie. I will return home whenever, and life can go back to how it used to be. And this isn’t my first stay in a prison. I have been locked up quite a few times before. So this is nothin’, Anyway, I will miss ya and the others. Give them my love, will ya? I will try and sneak in a call when I can.” he said as he ended the link.

Zargan held the sound of hoofsteps coming his way. He lowered his head back down as he waited for them to stop in front of his cell. Judging by the weight of the steps and the sound of metal clanking against the stone surface, he didn’t even need to look up to know who now stood before him. All was quiet for a moment before she began speaking “So then, you sought to take saving the life of your apprentice in your own hands. And proceeded to hurt my guards when they tried to stop you?” she asked in a rather unreadable tone of voice.

Zargan simply nodded “I did what I had to do to save her, yes. They tried to get to me by hurting and kidnapping her. She carried the knowledge of my smithing abilities, and they thought they could get it out of her. But they seemed to have forgotten that griffons are far more strong willed than anyone. else. I am proud of her for staying as strong as she did.” he said as he thought about the griffon, a smile forming on his face for a moment.

Celestia sighed and leaned against the cell door, clapping her fingers around the bars “If you are so willing to share your smithing skills with a normal citizen, then why won’t you share your skills with the kingdom itself..? It doesn’t make any sense…” she said as she truly didn’t understand the dwarf’s motives. Zargan chuckled before answering her, “It’s like I told her, princess. Blacksmithin’ is more than just war and profit. It's about passion and the want to create. And your two smithies were only all about the profit. They don’t deserve my knowledge…” he said as he began carving into the stone floor. “it's an art if ya think about it.”.

“But if it is an art, shouldn’t you want it to be shared with the world..?” she asked if he was going by that logic. However, he answered back quickly, “If I shared my methods with everyone, then it wouldn’t be very valuable as an art anymore, would it? Laelah proved herself worthy through hard work and a fire in her belly that is ever burning. I saw that in her and deemed her worthy. Until you find yourself a smithy who can have that same kind of fire, I ain’t helpin’ ya. So, lock me in here for however long ya need to for what I did. This isn’t my first stay in prison.” he said as he leaned his head back against the wall behind him.

Celestia let out a huff before stepping away from the bars “Well, either way, a trial will be held for you tomorrow to publicly rule out your sentencing. Admirable as your actions were, it was a crime to simply brute force your way into the castle grounds. But, due to the nature and motive behind your crime, your sentencing might not be so bad. But, If it is any consolation to you, the former castle smithies will be getting a much, much harsher sentence.”.

“I don’t care what ya do with them. Exile them for all I care or put them to the sword. It's not like they will be able to carve out a livin’ for themselves in their trade anymore anyway. And your commander.. well, he won’t be much use either. Though I hope you plan on giving him a disciplinary discharge for his involvement at least. Either way, I did what I had to do. Justice was served in my eyes.” he said as he maintained eye contact with the princess.

The next day, Zargan’s sentence was handed down in the throne room. He stood there with two guards on either side of him with spears in their hands while his wrists were bound. While they didn’t still agree about letting him keep his gauntlet and bag, there was little they could do. They’d have to kill him for the soul binding to completely fade away. And Celestia wasn’t cruel or dumb enough to waste such a skilled craftsman’s life. Especially when the dwarf could have taken the life of the guards he fought against but chose not to.

Celestia sat on her throne as she gazed down at Zargan with an emotionless gaze. On the inside, she was feeling some guilt for doing this to him. “After deliberation and looking over the gathered evidence, I find you guilty of damage to the kingdom of Equestria. But, due to the nature and motive behind your crime, I am granting you leniency and reducing your prison time to a year, as you did save the life of one of my citizens. But you did it in a way that was not authorized. Is there anything you’d like to say before this trial ends?” she asked as she continued to gaze down at him.

Zargan looks up at Celestia with a serious gaze in return, “Tell me, princess. Would ya have done the same thing if ya were in my boots? Ya are a teacher, too, if I am not mistaken. If one of your students were in a dire situation as mine was, I know you’d take matters into your own hands. And don’t lie to me and say ya wouldn’t. But if ya were in such a situation, ya’d be seen as a hero and given praise from all your subjects. But you are the princess, of course, they would. But when it comes to a nobody like myself who simply wanted to save their apprentice to make sure she had a chance at life, I am seen as a dangerous criminal. Think on that while ya sit on that pretty throne of yours.” he said as he turned his head toward the nobles and guards in the room “And for those of ya who are here thinkin’ that ya can get away with being corrupt while being in a position of trusted power, ya turn is comin’ eventually. Anyway, I have said my piece. Take me away. I am tired…” he said as he was then escorted off back to his cell.

Celestia gripped the armrest of her throne. He was absolutely right; she’d do anything to protect her students, even if it meant breaking her own rules, and it burned her that he called her out on it. And it burned her even more that he called out the hypocrisy of how her subjects would see her over how they saw him. They would indeed see her as their ‘powerful and heroic princess’ should that situation ever come to pass. Not everyone saw Zargan as a criminal, of course, they admired him for what he did, but the majority didn’t feel that way, especially the nobles.

Soon after, the trials of the two smithies came next. It seemed that Zargan’s suggestion of exile struck with the princess, as she sentenced them to exactly that and even had them personally thrown out of Equestria to never return again. And the commander that was involved was investigated thoroughly. Turns out, this wasn’t the first incident he had been a part of; his authority was stripped, and he was shamed publicly and sent to return to the private citizen sector once more, just as he had been before he joined the ranks. And Zargan was happy with this turnout.

As soon as Zargan was placed in his cell, he flopped onto the bed made of hay and closed his eyes before drifting into a good six hour slumber before waking up. He lifted his gauntlet up as he checked to see what time it was “Eleven in the evenin', huh? Perfect. If I am gonna be stuck in here for a year, I am gonna make it my own in the meantime…” he said as his hand drills appeared on his forearms before slamming them together and rotating them, letting sparks fly “Time to get to work…”

It was about midday when the guards came around to do their patrols of the cells. Given that Zargan was the only one in them at the time, they thought nothing of it. But when they rounded that corner and gazed into the cell that he inhabited, both of them dropped their spears, and their jaws hit the floor as they gazed upon what had been done to the cell. “By the sun..how the actual fuck did he..?” the guard said as he placed both hands atop his helmet in disbelief.

What the guards saw before them was a prison cell that was now three times its former size, the floor had been evened out and even cleaned to give it a more presentable appearance, and the dwarf had installed plumbing of all things. A fully functioning toilet and a shower with both hot and cold settings, along with a half wall for privacy. A bookshelf carved from the walls of the cell was fully stocked with books from his own world that he had been keeping in his bag, now, he had all the time in the world to read them. He even created a desk out of stone and a stone stool to it at it with. And a far more comfier bed with the hay that was left to him, all this being lit up by lights powered by runes he had carved into the wall. He even made himself a little stove/fireplace for when he wanted a fire to stay warm! And all this was done in under twenty four hours?!

Zargan was nose deep in one of his books when he heard the guard approach, and they stared at him like a bunch of fish. He simply arched a brow before shrugging “Well, I am a dwarf. Being in a prison underground, ya can be damn sure I am gonna make it my home. And I am gonna be here for a whole year after all.” he said before returning to his book. The guards were at a complete loss for words as they saw this. Should they report it to Celestia? Was this against regulation? He was still very much in his cell, but he was comfortable. Prisoners aren’t supposed to be comfortable!

“G-Go and retrieve the princess…now..” said one of the guards. The other picks up their weapon before rushing out of the dungeons. Celestia came back to see what all the fuss was about. Apparently, the guard had trouble spitting out what he had actually seen. Once she laid eyes on what had become of the cell, she simply shook her head and shrugged, not really surprised that the dwarf made his cell more homey.

“I see you have made yourself comfortable, then?” she asked as she leaned into the bars, looking around at how well crafted the living space was. Zargan simply shrugged but nodded “Like I told them, I am here for a year, I am making myself a home here.” he said as he sat up from his bed and walked over to the bars to meet with her. He simply offered her a knowing smile and leaned against the wall.

“You could have easily tunneled out of here and been on your way. Why stay here when you can clearly find a way out or even destroy the bars here?” she asked as she was genuinely curious about why he didn’t run away. Zargan chuckled lightly “Well, because, princess. I want to serve my time out here properly. If I ran, I’d be leaving a few folks behind. And I have business deals I still need to conduct. I can’t just pick up and take off now. I got a home here, even if I am not part of your kingdom. I got customers who need my skills.” he simply said as she stroked his beard a bit.

And with that, Zargan’s stay in the dungeons had begun.

Author's Note

She put him in prison, but she certainly didn't expect him to make himself at home to be sure! Even though she pretended to shrug it off.

May the darkness grant you peace.

Act 16: The Prison Life Of A Dwarf

It has been two weeks since Zargan was placed in the Canterlot prison. The dwarf doesn’t really do much most of the day except read and sleep. However, he has taken up carving out small figures of monsters and beings from his own world out of small chunks of rock. He has made three figures now: a rather busty mermaid sitting on a rock with waves crashing around her, a fierce looking dragon knight riding on the back of a dragon with a sword and shield drawn, and a long bearded wizard holding up a powerful staff as rock spires surround him. All being done by his own hands.

He had picked up another small rock and was going to begin carving a necromancer next when he heard the sound of hooves heading his way. He looked at the time on his gauntlet before nodding to himself, and he knew what time it was. “Hey, you.” the guard called out to him. “Yard time, let’s go,” he said as he unlocked Zargan’s cell. The dwarf nodded before placing the rock down on the table for later and showed the guard that his hands were empty before heading outside. The guard simply nodded before escorting the dwarf out into the yard, where the other inmates from his wing were also out getting their yard time.

Unlike most prisons he had been in, yard time was three to four hours long. And you could return to your cell by request anytime the inmates wanted. Zargan stepped out of the darkness and into the light, his eyes adjusting as he walked into the walled off open yard. As the door closed behind him, he made his way further out until he came across the unused weight lifting set. Seems that the only ones in his unit that would use these were him and two other stallions. The three of them had agreed that they’d split up the time when it came to using the equipment, and through a simple game of drawing straws, Zargan was the one to get first pick, so he chose the first hour.

After he had finished pumping iron for an hour, he set everything back the way it was before looking over at one of the two ponies sitting at one of the tables “Oi, Zippo. All yours, lad.” he said as he made his way over to the table, the large burly stallion nodding before fist bumping the dwarf on his way to the weight equipment “Thanks, Archy.” he said with a smile toward Zargan. The nickname ‘Archy,’ short for Architect, was given to Zargan not only for what he did to his own cell but also for the modifications he had done to his fellow inmates’ cells that showed him respect after he had shown them just a bit of kindness while out in the yard, and also the respect he had earned with other inmates whom he had beaten down in a fight with bare fists. Yes, he even removed his gauntlet for those very fights to make it totally fair.

Compared to the prisons he had been in back home, this was more like a minimum security holding than anything. Sure, it was rough by this world’s standards. But these creatures wouldn’t be able to survive the conditions he was in when he was in prison back in his world. Hardly any food, cramped sleeping quarters with eight to ten being in one space, hard labor that masted most of the day, it was truly a much easier life here in these walls than he had thought. These stallions wouldn’t last a week in his world. But, maybe that was for the best that they didn’t have to. At least here, they feed you three square meals a day. It's not the prettiest of foods, but it fills the stomach up and keeps it filled.

Zargan was having a conversation with one of the inmates he had garnered respect with when the door to the yard opened. The dwarf’s head turned to see who was entering when another burly, muscular stallion was led in by the guards who shoved him in. “You little bitch…” the stallion growled before the door was slammed and locked behind him. Once the stallion made his way into the yard, his eyes fell upon Zargan, who simply stared back at him with a raised brow. ” He is small, so he must be the weakest. I am going to make him my bitch.” thought the large stallion before he walked over to Zargan and leaned forward on the table “That’s my spot you’re sitting in…move, sweetheart.” he said with an intimidating smile, or what he thought would be intimidating to the dwarf.

Zargan looked up at him and simply shook his head “There are plenty of tables to sit at lad. And while I am flattered ya called me ‘sweetheart’, I am afraid males aren’t my type mug of mead, if ya get what I am sayin’.” he said with a chuckle. Seeing that his presence alone wasn’t enough, he decides to threaten with violence “If you don’t move, I will lay you flat on this pavement and show everyone in this yard that you are nothing but a weak little bitch…” he said as he baited the dwarf. And the dwarf knew what had to come next. One of the rules of prisons is that no matter what world you came from, you had to defend your manhood, or else you’d be labeled as a ‘punk’ and preyed upon.

The stallion that sat across from Zargan stood up as he watched the dwarf sigh and, remove his gauntlet and place it in his bag. He looked over to the offending stallion and shook his head as he backed away “Bro, you done fucked up now….Archy may be small, but he-...” The stallion didn’t even get to finish before Zargan leaped into the air, grabbed onto the stallion’s shirt, and slammed the crown of his head into his nose before slamming his feet into his chest and kicking off, sending the stallion flying back, grunting in pain as blood flew through the air before he slammed on the ground on his back.

The dwarf wasted no time in jumping back on the stallion and began beating his face with one of his large, meaty fists. In here, he wasn’t going to allow anyone to gain so much as a foothold in a fight. In here, there was no ‘honor.’ When it came to fights. As the one sided fight began, the inmates gathered around and started cheering for Zargan as they watched him beat the stallion mercilessly. But it seems that the fight wasn’t so one sided after all, as the stallion got one good right cross, which made Zargan stumble back a bit. However, it wasn’t enough to make the dwarf fully dazed.

Just as the stallion was about to get up, Zargan smiled wickedly before charging forward and performed a flying drop kick into the stallion’s chest, sending him right back to the ground before resuming the beating until the stallion’s face was nothing more than a bloody mess, and he was out cold. The dwarf stood up and stood next to the fallen stallion, blood dripping from his knuckles while panting heavily before cracking his shoulders and back a bit “Bah, I need to get into better shape if I am gonna be here for a whole year. Bangin’ a hammer on an anvil just ain’t cuttin’ it on the outside. Need to invest in a workout routine when I get out of here.” he said to no one in particular.

One of the inmates who respected Zargan came up next to the passed out stallion and crouched down, examining the brutal beating before looking at Zargan with a low whistle “Daaaamn, Archy. Who hurt you, bro?” he asked in a joking manner before lightly tapping the dwarf’s shoulder before standing back up. Zargan chuckled “Well, it's a long story, lad. Let’s just say it was never meant to be, and the only good thing about her was her amazon’ rack and gave the best head around.” he retorted. A couple of the inmates chuckled at that, and everyone went about their business. Eventually, the guards came in and dragged the stallion off the yard, knowing full well that Zargan was going to be the one to absolutely lay this guy out without causing too much of a fuss.

Zargan didn’t always fight to preserve his manhood. There were some inmates who wanted to fight the dwarf simply because they enjoyed a good brawl. And given how many bar fights and prison fights the dwarf had been in, he was all too happy to oblige. Of course, he didn’t win all his fights. There were a few where the inmate he was fighting had gotten the better of him, and he was willing to accept his defeat. Of course, the next time they came around to fight again, Zargan would end up the victor. And the inmates were totally fine with him beating them when he did.

If you showed the dwarf a bit of respect, he’d become your friend, maybe even make your cell just a little nicer when he could slip out of his cell without the guards bugging him to get back in. But, there are some, like the stallion that was now being dragged out of the yard, who got stuck in their tiny, cramped cell because of how they presented themselves to the dwarf. Zargan had a monopoly in this prison at the moment. He could easily make life a little easier for the other inmates here, and they knew it.

Zargan grabbed his gauntlet from his bag and placed it back onto his hand after having wiped the blood from his hands before taking his seat back at his table. A few of the inmates were sitting next to him as they whispered and smiled as they recapped the fight with the dwarf. Soon enough, yard time was done, and it was time for lunch, a time when all the wings of the prison were in one massive room to eat together. Zargan nodded to his fellow inmates as they stood up and made their way to the mess hall for mealtime.

As they walked along, Zargan noticed that the stallions, who were his friends, stood on either side of him, showing that they had his back, even though they knew he could handle himself. When it was time for Zargan to get his food, he stood in front of the barred off area with his tray as he waited for his bowl of potato soup and roll. He simply smiled at the mare who was serving the food behind the bars, who in turn smiled back “Good to see you again, short stuff~. You hanging in there?” she asked as she placed the bowl on his tray. Zarham chuckled and nodded “Oh, I am doin’ what I can to make it by, lass. Its been only two weeks since I was put in here. But compared to the other prisons I have been in, this is heaven.” he joked before moving on so the other inmates could get their meal.

Zargan had gained the respect of the whole kitchen staff, as he had created a brand new fully functional stove/oven to prepare the food with, as the last one was barely working at all and was on its last leg. The staff had heard of the dwarf’s skills and had begged both the warden and Celestia herself to allow the dwarf to help out, supervised, of course. And the dwarf didn’t even make a deal for it, and he was more than happy to help the kitchen staff out anytime, as long as it made the food just a bit more bearable.

After lunchtime, it was time for the inmates to get back in their cells for the rest of the day, which Zargab was fine with anyway. He would just simply return to what he was doing before it was time to go out for yard time. Once he was locked in his cell, he walked up to the rock he had left on his table before picking it up and resuming carving the necromancer figurine he had in his mind. All was quiet for the next couple of hours until the sound of those daint hoofsteps echoed down the walkway of the cells. Knowing who it was, the dwarf didn’t even look up from his carving as Celestia stood there for a moment, watching him work.

“Wooow, quite a skillful pair of hands you got there indeed, first blacksmithing, now sculpting? I know artists in this kingdom who’d kill to have such a talented and steady pair of hands,” she said as she waited for him to respond, but no words came out yet. “So, I heard you got into another fight. Are you looking to add more time to your stay here?” she asked again, throwing in an idle threat to see if that would get his attention, but she also knew that the prison had its own rules: fight or be marked a weakling and preyed upon.

“Do what ya have to do. Bein’ in here isn’t so bad. Three square meals a day, all the alone time I could ever ask for. And the other fellas ya got locked up in here ain’t so bad either. They are good folks. You just need to treat them like actual people instead of a bunch of caged animals. They may be felons, but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be treated like animals. Well, except the heartless murderers and those who prey on mares and foal. Them I don’t care to allow livin’. Ya can cut their cocks off for all I care. But other than that category of scum, the others deserve to be reformed and given a second chance at life.” he said as he lifted the sculp[ted rock to his face to blow off the dust before resuming.

“And what about you, Zargan? Have you killed before? Wouldn’t that put you in the same category as the scum you so despise?” asked Celestia with her arms folded under her heavy bust as she arched a brow and watched for an answer. Without missing a beat, he answered right back, “You see, princess, there is a difference between killing needlessly because you enjoy it and killing to survive or defend yourself. Sometimes…you don’t have a choice, and you can’t see a way out until the deed is done. Until you have lived the life I have lived, you wouldn’t understand. Ya think there will never be a time when ya will have to take the life of someone because ya can simply lock them up somewhere. But killin’ is sadly a part of life. And someone with your kind of power is bound to take the life of someone eventually…if ya haven’t done it already.” he said as he turned the rock over in his hand a few times.

Celestia leaned in as she grabbed the bars of his cell with a look of disapproval on her face at his words, “I don’t know what your world was like Zargan. But you are in this world now. Sure, things are rough here sometimes, we have invasions from time to time and even some cataclysmic events. But we always pull through in the end. So long as we help one another in trying times, we get through it just fine. I don't know how or why you ended up here, But you need to get with the program like everyone else…”.

Zargan placed the rock down on his table before walking up to the bars. He tilted his head up to look at Celestia before he jumped up and pulled at her top’s fabric and brought her down to his eye level, the guards gasping and pointing their weapons at him as the dwarf got in her face “Look here, lass. I didn’t ASK to be brought here. Ya understand? I was happy n’ content with my clan, diggin’ through mines, makin’ money, drinkin’ all the mead and ale I could have ever wanted, and doin’ things my people did to live and enjoy life. Don’t ever think for ya moment I came here by choice. He growled as he glared at the princess, who simply stared back at him before he shoved her away, making her stagger back a bit before he grabbed the rock he was carving and sat back on his bed before resuming his work “Now, leave me be. Unless you want to preach more to me about how life is all sunshine and rainbows.” he said as he scoffed at the idea.

The princess simply stared at Zargan for a while and nodded to her guard “Let’s go.” she simply said before leaving the dwarf to his own devices. She did understand where the dwarf was coming from, she did. But, she had duties as a ruler to her actual subjects. This was a stranger to her lands. And laws must be accounted for.

Author's Note

Just a day in the life of the dwarf's next year, figured you'd all be curious.

May the darkness grant you peace.