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.