The Beginning

The truth is you don't know what is going to happen tomorrow. Life is a crazy ride, and nothing is guaranteed.

The air rang with the sound of steel, shaping, forming, groaning, changing, and becoming one with its destined form. Then a hissing clash of fire and water, as the metal ticked and popped underneath the surface of the burning water, settling and finalizing its shape. This is the music of the forge. A sound more satisfying symphony the grizzled stallion had not found. But today the music was off not its usual pure ringing when he struck. But the dull clang of steel that was forced into the form it now resides in. A form so repulsive is sickened him to even look at it. But unless he was to draw attention to himself Rain had to fix the weapon. Levitating it in front of him he inspected the weapon.

The blade was of the duel crescent variety. Used by the unicorns not powerful enough to summon their own magic blade. So instead they crafted magic swords with a curved cruel blade on each end. So that when levitated and spun it created nothing short of a buzz saw. Effective but messy. The worst part was the fact that it did little more than dismember an opponent causing them to feel unimaginable amounts of pain in the grisly process. Then the shock and the stare. With their limbs gone and nothing more than a bleeding stump remaining. It was a slow death no matter how fast they were killed for when trauma like that happens the world sharpens and slows, as you see the still spinning blade cut through your loved ones …

Bang!!

The sound of the door being slammed open pulled Rain out of his dark memories. A burly obviously drunk unicorn stumbled in. Followed by two others all of them were laughing loudly. Wearing the royal colors of the mystic empire's knights . The leader stumbled up then more-or-less fell onto the counter. Looking over it and yelling at the soot stained grey unicorn with the black main. “hey smithy I’m here to pick up my glorioush weapon.” Rain kept his face impassive as he walked up to the counter with the wicked weapon floating next to him and said. “before you get it back I will require the agreed upon payment.”

“You doubt the wordsh of a royals knight?”

“No I just require payment for services rendered as with any business.”

“You should jussht be honored that a royal knight even graced this small town obscure pissant blacksmithy for repairs your oing the empire a feavor.”

The only reply the knight got was a gaze reminiscent of the metals that Rain worked on. Hard, impassive hazel eyes and a stubborn frown tucking at the corners of his mouth. After a minute or two of this the knight grumbled, his horn lighting up with the aura of his magic. A small coin pouch levitated onto the counter. This was quickly whisked away. The cruel blade was dropped unceremoniously on to the counter. Rain then turned away and proceeded back towards his forge. However the knight was far from through with him. Angry and with his mind clouded in a haze of alcohol the knight shouted.

”Insolence! You will treat a knight of the royal unicorn army of the magic empire with proper respect.”

With that the knight used his magic to throw a small but rather heavy brass bell that Rain kept on the counter for his customers to use so that they might get his attention when he was in back. The bell flew through the air striking the smith right behind the ear with a loud clang and with a thump Rain fell unconscious.

Dreams are a curious thing that are said to have the ability to give one glimpses of the future or allow one to visit loved ones long dead. Unfortunately for Rain his dream involved the second option. His dream was that of the past of the day his wife and family was killed.

It was a beautiful day and the sun was high. Birds were singing. Various wild flowers and grasses were blooming. Nature was in perfect balance that day. As if to say, “I defy you” to a chaotic world. His village was alive, the small mixed population was excited because today was the day the roving traders arrived on their rout to the neighboring kingdoms. And of course the market was set up in the center of town, and chocked with the various stalls and bodies of the pony’s that greeted the travelers to haggle and sell their wares. The only pony who wasn't there was Rain. Never one for large crowds he only went to see the traders if he needed metals. His wife had gone off with his mother and father to see the market and greet the traders so he had the forge to himself, and since the caravans had not arrived yet that meant he had no orders at the moment. Walking to the back corner of his shop where a lone barrel stood with various pieces of scrap metal sticking out of the top. He carefully pushed it to the side revealing a small section of loose board on the wall. Gently pushing it aside revealed a small box of wood trimmed with gold leaf. He gently picked it up and took it to the forge.

Opening the small clasp and flipping the lid up, one could see the inside was a collection of gears, springs, and a single figurine entwined in the arms of another. The first was a mare of a light golden fur and copper mane with a bronze rose tucked in her hair. Wearing a dress made of ivory embroidered with tiny strands of silver wire. Then enchanted so as to flow around her as the figurine moved, imitating the flow of silk. The other figurine was a grey unicorn with a black mane. He was dressed in simple red vest with a shirt that had a bit of lace at the throat and around the base of the sleeves. Together they stood embracing each other on a small platform. Rain looked at the figurines remembering the night of the dance.

The grace and delicate beauty as she danced. Golden Grace could have gotten any stallion she wanted, if she wanted any. Having rejected dances from every suitor that had asked her, she danced across the room alone she stopped in front of a single gray unicorn. With a mane of black standing alone next to a window holding and adjusting a delicate rose of bronze. He was lost in thought as he watched her approach. Nervous and fidgeting he never once took his eyes off of her. Hooves and horn always busy adding ever more details to the little bronze rose. Here in front of this lone shy unicorn she stopped. She looked him over top to bottom her eyes settling on the delicate rose with tooling and embroidery on every petal and leaf, not unlike his cutie mark. It gave the small sculpture of bronze a life of its own. Looking back up into those hazel eyes she gave a gentle smile and held out a hoof before asking this plain, rough unicorn to dance. All he could do was blink surprise. He was still speechless when she gave that delicate smile one more time. Then snatching the rose out of his hand she tucked it in her mane right behind her ear and led him to the center of the dance floor. There they danced, never saying a word just swaying to the music and spinning ever so softly, looking into each other’s eyes.

When the dance ended they walked out side by side into the garden. Under the full moon, talking softly to each other and looking at the stars. They slowly walked towards town until they reached the edge of the city. There they stopped on a rise overlooking the city. Then there under the moon and stars she kissed him. The world seemed to stop, and fade until there was nothing but the two of them and that moment.

He was wrenched out of the memory by a scream in a familiar voice from outside. Dropping the music box he ran outside. Looking down the street only to see flames and smoke peaking above the buildings from the direction of the town center. “Grace” he uttered not stopping to think he ran straight toward the smoke. Straight into the heart of town and whatever was going on. Rounding a corner what he saw stopped him dead in his tracks. It was a raid by the neighboring kingdom of the magic empire. The unicorn Supremacists that believed every race was inferior. That every non unicorn must die. They were killing everyone that was not a unicorn. Mares, colts, fillies, none were spared no matter how young. And there in the center of it all was his beloved Golden Grace. Backed up against a stall with a look of pure terror on her beautiful face. In front of her was a unicorn. In heavy armor colored black, blue, and gold. Two curved double sided blades made of pure magic spinning next to him. Laughing the unicorn brought the blades around sweeping low in an unmistakable arc for the legs. This black hearted stallion was not just going to kill her, he was going to do it slowly one piece at a time. As the blades were about to hit Rain's world went black. He woke up screaming, sweating, and cold as if he had been doused with icy water. Rain looked up into the bright light of day. Realizing that he was outside and surrounded by unicorn solders.

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Rain looked around getting a picture of his surroundings as a burly unicorn knight trotted up a smug grin on his face. There was no doubt in his mind that the stallion before him was the one from last night, due in part to the fact that he reeked of apple whiskey. Primarily he recognized his own work the double crescent blade strapped across his back had a jagged scar running down the center of the blade. The same fracture and as he now realized covered up with delicate tooling designed to turn the fracture from a jagged scar into thorny vines running up the length of the blade. To top it all off while he had been lost in his memories he had hidden a rune of durability in the roots of the vines. The only thing that passed through Rain’s mind was.

“Spirits damn me! I can’t even do simple repairs without screwing myself over.”

The burly unicorn knight stopped in front of Rain. Not bothering to get up Rain just stared up at him, face impassive and hazel eyes hard. The unicorn knight gave a dark chuckled then said.

“Welcome to the army of the mystic empire crafts Pony. We are pleased to welcome you amongst our ranks, especially a craftsman of your level”.

To emphasize this point, he levitated his blade out of the holster on his back holding it aloft for all to see.

“I am Silver Blade of his majesties royal knights, and your superior in every way. You listen to orders and do as you’re told without problems, and I won’t be forced to cut your horn off.”

Spinning the blade it the air he brought it around, stopping just as it touched his horn, Silver Blade’s face just inches from his own.

“Are we clear?”

The only response Rain gave him was to stare straight into his eyes.His eyes were green eyes like moss on top of stagnant water. Silver Blade snorted and stood up straight looking to the nearest soldier in the group surrounding them saying.

“Shackle him, then take him to the repair tent and assign him a go-for, one of the bastards.” Looking back at Rain he gave a crooked smile saying.

“When you shackle him use one of the black ones that should make him more…. cooperative.”

The solider jumped when he was first addressed then saluted, turned and ran off quickly.

“The rest of you are dismissed. Find something useful to do.”

He looked back at Rain one more time and sneered, soon walking off. He quickly disappeared into the maze of tents along with the few other soldiers that surrounded him. Finally having a moment to himself, the first thing Rain did was examine the itching at the base of all his legs. It seemed to come from right above the ankle before his hooves.

Shackles, shackles were the cause of the itching as they began to chafe. Chains also stretched between his front two legs and his back legs as well. He also noticed an extra bit of chain leading from the back right shackle to a large post.

“Ah that explains why they were willing to leave me alone. Damn! Chained like a dog. But what did that pompous prick Silver Blade mean by shackling me? I already am chained unless….”

A deep sense of dread washed over Rain like a tidal wave when his suspicions were confirmed. The unicorn solider returned carrying a black iron collar by a chain in his mouth. Rain backed away repetitively saying.

“No no th…that you can’t no.”

Rain panicked as the soldier approached, turning and running off to the left, only to be cut short by the chain falling. Face first into the ground, his horn glowing as he lit up the chains, instinctively looking for the weak points in the metal. Finding them, he began to use a fire spell he had learned for lighting the forge. Three links began to glow, weakening them even more. Without much effort he snapped first the chains between his legs, then rolling up onto his hooves he snapped the one connecting him to the post and took off. Darting in between tents running as fast as his legs would carry him, the remains of the chains dragging behind him. The racket he produced was nothing short of spectacular. Soon almost every soldier in that part of the camp was hunting him down. Lead by Silver Blade, everyone was under orders “not to kill him”, his skill was too valuable. Had it been any other smith, they would have been dead, however Rain was unique for he was one of a select few that knew about and could inscribe magic runes into items. Silver blade wanted that ability at his disposal and he would not let such a prize escape, so he pursued Rain a wicked grin on his face as he thought of the ways he would “punish” him.

Rain ran dodging soldiers, ropes, and nets that they threw at him. Chains and other metal tools of submission that they threw he simply deflected acting on instinct. As he ran he could feel the strength leaving his body, the broken shackles weighing down his hooves. The sound of the chains dragging eliminated the need for stealth, so he ran nonstop until he reached the crest of a hill. Finally able to rest, Rain took a truly good look at the camp. There was no end to it, tents stretching on for miles in all directions with no end in sight. The shock of what he saw shook Rain out of his panicked stupor standing on top of that hill in the light of the camp illuminated by the light of the setting sun. What truly shocked him was not the sheer size of the camp, or the thousands upon thousands of unicorn soldiers (some with the black collar around their neck, some without), but the location of the camp. A location he knew by heart from the small river winding up around the edge of the trees to the east to the now trampled fields of grass covering everywhere except one area, which was full of the burnt out husks of buildings. To the western end of the buildings laid a blank patch of dirt where the forge had been. Where in the field between where he stood on the north end of the valley lie the now trampled tombstones of his wife, Golden Grace. His village, everypony was gone, dead, or worse. Falling to his haunches and feeling numb; he sat there, unmoving as the despair overwhelmed him, leaving him hollow and broken. He didn’t move when the burly unicorn knight with the sickly moss green eyes walked up behind him, a black iron collar dangling from his mouth by a chain, a smug grin on his face as he clasped it around his neck. He didn’t fight back as the collar clouded his mind, taking away his free will. When he did move, it was not of his own accord but that of the collars orders forcing him to stand and follow the knight.

After that the collar was only ever removed once by the knight; after he had been strapped into a torture wheel so that he could feel the pain they were about to inflict. So the knight could enjoy his screams. Three days and nights, he was tortured nonstop until the kindly unicorn, Grey Rain, was no more than a husk. This stallion of art and creation was now reduced to nothing more than a robotic slave, sent to work the forge repairing weapons and armors. Tools of death and destruction, mind clouded by the collar with only brief moments of clarity. Within a few days the knights had runic weapons emblazoned with runes of fire and strength.

It is said within the darkest places there is still light a small spark or flicker of hope, joy, and life, like a ray of sun cutting through the clouds to hit your face in the middle of winter signifying the coming of spring. And it was one such moment of clarity that a savior appeared in a most unusual form.