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.