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.