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.