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.