The sun’s light pierced between Rose’s eyelids, forcing her from her slumber. The warmth of the mare snuggled in her grasp was nice, but the air was a little cold after the cloudless night.

“Ugh... I hate mornings.”

The mare groaned and pulled the cover over her face, hiding herself from the sunlight. Her sleep-blurred eyes met the peacefully asleep face of Pyrelight, the soft light of her mane bringing a comforting glow. The beautiful contours of her face were portrait worthy, soft and feminine while still showing the firmness of self-reliance.

Man, what I wouldn’t give to paint her. Wish I still had fingers...

“Morning.”

The fire-mare shifted in her sleep, snuggling closer to the earth pony, her muzzle only an inch or so from Rose’s.

“C’mon, we better wake up Moon.”

Rose groaned again and threw the cover off, dragging her feet as she slumped to the tent.

“Moon. Wake up. Moon. Hey. Moon. Hey. Hey. Hey.”

A groan issued from the tent, sounding both sleepy and pained at the same time.

“C’mon, we have to get to town if you want some ointment for that burn.”

A few shuffles emanated from the tent, and a bleary, limping Moon Herald peeked out from the tent.

“C’mon sleepyhead, we gotta get moving.”

“A- alright, R-Rose...”

His voice was hazed with pain, and his normally glossy coat was dull and matted with sweat. His eyes, now a pale green, as opposed to their normally brighter coloration.

Rose let out a sad sigh, helping the colt out of the tent.

“Just get some rest okay? Hey, Pyrelight, thing you can help me pack up?”

“I can do that. Give me a moment.”

Pyrelight’s voice was tired, but chipper. Around twenty minutes of packing resulted in everything being ready to go, and the three ponies began to walk to the narrow end of the chasm. At the end, there was a cavern, dark and unlit. The fire-pony Pyrelight and Rose had created last night led the way, chewing a log held in his mouth.

The fire had gotten larger over night, and stood almost twice the height of any of them. The blazing heat and bright light of his form prevented the group from following too closely. As they exited the tunnel, they found themselves near the edge of the forest, the flame-stallion outside, having knocked over a tree and begun chewing on it, an almost impossibly happy expression on his face as he devoured the wood.

With a sigh, Pyrelight looked at the fire-colt. She shook her head, her servitors floating out to swirl around him. As they began to orbit him faster and faster, she sighed and muttered something under her breath.

“I am deeply sorry...”

With a whirling of the stone bars, the pony made of flames was torn apart, the fire being dragged away into the whirlwind and quelled.

“You okay ‘Light?”

“It is always saddening, to snuff out a life, no matter its origin.”

“You’ll see him again, don’t worry.”

Rose patted the mare’s shoulder, giving her a smile before continuing on, nudging Moon a bit to see his condition, missing the sad look from Pyrelight.

“How ya holding up?”

“D-doin’ well, I g-guess...”

The colt’s voice was shaky, but he was trying to sound fine. Rose shook her head.

“Don’t lie to me. I know you about ready to drop. C’mon...”

The mare bent over a bit, flipping the colt onto her back, hitching him up just to where she was comfortable with his weight. He yelped at the sudden movement, but held on tightly enough with three of his legs as best he could.

“It’s only a few more miles to the next town, just hang in there, okay?”

She felt him nod, settling his head onto the back of her neck, his face buried in her mane. She and Pyrelight continued trotting along, meeting the dirt road and following it to the next town.

When they reached the top of a hill overlooking the town, they saw it was a bit larger than the last, having an actual stone wall around it and tiny dots indicating the movements of what were presumably guards.

“Think they’ll let us through?”

Rose thought aloud, and Pyrelight shrugged. They continued walking as they spoke.

“Perhaps. I can only hope they assume I’m not a threat since I’m accompanying you. As for him, well, he’s a colt, so he’ll probably be ignored, for the most part.”

“We’ll see about that. C’mon, I don’t think he can take much more of this.”

The two mares move swiftly towards the town, observing the river that ran past and around it. The three herdmates gathered at the main gate, most of the ponies in the area either already in or mostly just milling about.

At the gate, a unicorn mare in armor and carrying a spear stopped them.

“Halt, and state your business.”

“My mate is badly wounded, I need to buy some medication for him.”

“Fine. What about that one?”

The guard mare pointed at Pyrelight.

“My friend.”

“Friend? How so?”

Pyrelight spoke up, obviously guessing where the guard was going.

“I am a part of his herd, but I lack the medical knowledge to help him further.”

The guard glanced suspiciously at Rose for a moment, who continued to stare, almost glaring at her. Moon was in enough pain, he needed medical attention now. The guard stared for a moment more, before acquiescing.

“Hmph, fine. Just don’t let the candelabra set anything on fire while you’re in there.”

“Don’t worry, we won’t be here long.”

With that, Rose stepped inside, picking up her pace once she entered the town market. Looking around she noticed signs with pictures of various goods, one of them of what looked like a roll of gauze bandages.

“I think that’s it. C’mon, let’s hurry.”

Rose galloped to the door, Pyrelight waiting outside, in case of combustibles. Inside, Rose saw that the shop was a little crowded with materials, but there was a counter near the front with a white earth pony standing behind it, idly knitting something. The white mare had a bright orange-and-green mane tied into a bun, minus exactly the first half-inch, which was pointed forward and over one eye.

The mare looked up sleepily, until she saw Moon Herald. After seeing the injured buck, the white mare jumped into action.

“What happened?”

The mare was more than a little shocked at the sight of the burned and bleeding colt on Rose’s back.

“We had a run in with a- a, um... What was it called again?”

Rose turned to look at Pyrelight, to ask her for the answer. Unfortunately, she saw that the blazing mare was still outside. Right, possibly flammable shop... Shit, it was a will-something-something... Will-o... will-o...

“Will-o-wisp! Yeah, that’s it. We ended up getting lost in the forest and that monster ended up finding us. It managed to get in a good blow to my friend, and we were hoping you could help us. We were able to cauterize the wound but...”

“Good thinking, cauterizing it, but it’s going to be difficult to treat. Stitches! Get in here!”

The white mare called over her shoulder, and a unicorn colt, light brown in coloration, with a bright, blonde-colored mane, walked in. Seeing the injured colt, he gasped.

“Stitches, get me the burn kit, and start checking the drawers for any of the heavy salves, these are some pretty bad burns.”

The unicorn nodded, running into the shop once more, as the white mare began to lead Rose and Moon to a small gurney-like table.

“Set him down here. Good. Wow, these are some pretty bad burns... Stitches! Where’s that burn kit!?”

The colt came thundering back, a box held in his telekinetic aura. Setting it down, he stopped. Hovering close in behind him was a bag, labeled with a fire symbol on a heart.

“Good, now help me hold him steady, and get me some light, you lazy lump!”

The colt complied, and the duo began working, Rose feeling a little left out and useless as they worked. She almost jumped out of her skin when a quiet voice from behind her asked a question.

“Uhm, if you’d follow me, please, we need to figure out the billing, and what to do if he... ah... doesn’t make it.”

The speaker was a mildly short, fluffy griffin-like creature, but with a pony back.

“Billing? Ah, fuck. What’s the damage?”

“Well, it sounds like he’s got severe burns and possible muscle damage from the Will-o-wisp infection, along with the damage caused by the burns destroying said infection... But I figure you already knew that. As for the bill, though, we’ll know the full extent when those two are done.”

“Alright. Just make sure he’s fixed, okay?”

The hippogriff began walking towards the front counter, and offered a quill to Rose, setting a large book opened and in front of her, a list of names written on lines down the first few pages.

“Please sign on the first available line, just your name if you know how to write it.”

“I, uh, okay...”

The mare took the quill and attempted to write her name in the best handwriting she could. Though of course it was her english alphabet, something she doubted anyone but her could read, and written with her mouth, it was the best she could manage.

“Uhm, I can’t read that... I can write it if you need me to.”

The hippogriff spread her hand-like claws as she spoke, indicating how she’d write.

“That’d probably be best.”

Rose was a bit saddened by the fact that she couldn’t even manage the simple task of writing her name, but it was the least of her worries at the moment.

“Rose. And my friend on the operating table is Moon Herald.”

The hippogriff took the quill and scribbled something down. Next to that, she scribbled something else, and finally stopped with two blank spaces left.

“And now for the hard part... If he doesn’t make it, then the rule of charge is that you don’t pay for the operation, just the materials used. Stitches and Wraps are honest, and they’ll try their best. But if he doesn’t make it, you’ll have to pay the funeral costs. We’ll do embalming if you want in that case, but that costs more as well.”

Rose bit her lip and looked through her stash of saved Coins. There wasn’t much, especially since most of it will have to be spent on restocking their food. She made a displeased face.

“What’s the cheapest way?”

“Letting him die, but I doubt you want to go that route. Otherwise, just hope for the best. I suppose if you need some spare coins, you could probably ask around, there might be a few places that need ground labor. And Wraps will let you take time to pay if you’re really that desperate.”

“Unfortunately, we are. But either way, do whatever you can to save him, got it? I’ll be back with the cash...”

The hippogriff nodded, offering a claw to shake. Rose took it automatically, giving a reassuring nod before going back to the operating room, taking a quick peek on Moon.

He was in pain and unconscious, still being treated with a variety of needles, scalpels, and ointments. She let out a sigh of despair and exited the small hospital, and sat on the edge of the road, putting a hoof to her head as she thought.

“It’s a madhouse in there.”

Pyrelight looked over at Rose worriedly.

“And we don’t have enough cash to pay the bill, so we’re gonna have to find jobs, and fast.”

The fire-pony hunched her shoulders, looking like she was ready to cry, ears down and eyes dull.

“I’m sorry, I wish I had known the spell to cure him, but all I had was the cauterizing... I’m sorry I failed.”

“No, no. You did all you could... It was more than I would have been able to do.”

Rose felt that familiar knot begin to tie itself in her throat again, the mare trying to swallow it whole so it did not bother her, but her attempts were null and void. Pyrelight looked to her and nodded, grabbing her and drawing her into a hug.

“Then let us search for work to do, but first, you should tell them we are going to do so, if you haven’t. They will want to know in case they finish before we’re done.”

“I told the girl at the front desk I’d be back with the money.”

Rose cleared her throat and got to her hooves, taking a deep breath before stepping forward into the town square where she began her endless questioning of shopkeepers.

None seemed to need her help, until they found a large, black, insectile pony, with holes in its hooves. It was working a forge, smashing a piece of metal into shape.

Wielding the bar of glowing metal in an aura of green magic, he pounded the heated metal with a hammer held between his teeth. The heated bar flattened quickly into the shape of a pickaxe’s head, the tip tapering sharply, and the other end quickly turned flat and wide, with strong, even strokes. Finally dunking the new tool into a bucket of water, the changeling turned to the duo.

“What kin ah do fer ye?”

The first thing to run through Rose’s mind was something like ’holy shit, it’s a changeling!’ while the second thing to run through her mind was approximately ‘fucking hell, he’s ripped.’

Following those thoughts, though, was a third, less cogent one: why does he sound like a dwarf?

“I, uh...”

She quickly shook her head, clearing the questions in her head enough to state her business.

“I need a job, got any openings? I’d be able to handle anything you can throw at me, plus some.”

“Wiel, ah culd yuuse some help wit de forge, if’n yer firey leedy friend there don’ mind. Kin ye shape ahny metals, lass?”

Rose just stared at the Changling, not knowing what exactly he said, but probably guessing it had something to do blacksmithing.

“Uh, yeah, umm... Did you catch any of that?”

She leaned over and whispered to Pyrelight, hoping she understood the large male.

“I- I think so... uhm, I think he wants help with the forge, yes?”

“Aye, lass, thas abou’ it. Can yer eartheh friend wurk metals at all?”

“Ah, I think he’s asking if you can do any metalworking. Can you?”

“Um... Well I’ve been around hot metal before so I can try. But I can’t promise a masterpiece.”

She stepped forward and looked over the metals and tools. An old friend of hers did research on forging before, so hopefully what she remembered from his long ramblings about it would help her.

“Ahlrigh’, ah’ll hold th’ metal still, an ye can shape it. Blaze lass, c’n ye put a livin’ flame inta th’ forge?”

“I- I can... will you promise to keep it safe? And Rose, remember to strike it with your hoof, not the frog.”

“Aye, lass, it’ll stay ‘ere as long as possible.”

“Don’t gotta tell me twice, been burned enough to know to be careful.”

As Pyrelight began to coax the fire in the forge to life, Rose let out a breath, in her mind trying to recall the steps as to how to forge anything. First comes the heating of the metals into a liquid, pouring it into the base, after it sets comes the striking, cooling, reheating, striking, cooling, etc.

Carefully shirking a shoe, Rose raised a hoof, hoping the blaze pony knew what she was saying by using her hoof. As a rod of metal was placed in front of her, glowing from the brilliant heat of the forge, she brought her hoof down with a shout, the shape of a blade in her mind’s eye.

A loud clang, shiiiing! resounded through the shop as her hoof bounced from the metal, a portion of the bar pressed into the beginning of a long, spade-like shape. With another series of grunts and smashing blows to the bar, it formed rapidly into a sword, the only pause in her movements when it was pulled away and cooled for a moment, heated moments later. In just under ten minutes, a gleaming blade, shining in silver and an odd, orange-tinged ripple pattern in it, had emerged.

In the orange light of the forge and the brilliant sunlight, the blade shone with an almost unearthly glow, smoothly gleaming in the light. There was a slight bend to it, and the arc of Rose’s hoof had left an imprint about halfway up the blade, but nothing too bad. The hand had turned out mostly perfect, only an odd twisting on the end marring its shape. The edge was already sharp, something that should have been impossible from mere hoof-blows, let alone shaping solid metal with a hoof.

Speaking of, Rose’s forehoof was smoking slightly, blackened from the soot, but entirely unharmed beyond that. In addition, she was slightly out of breath, but in a good sort of way.

“Well, that wasn’t so bad. Seems pretty good for a first try right?”

Rose gave Pyrelight a smile, shaking her hoof before stomping it on the dirt ground to put of the smoke.

“Tha- thass yer furst tra, lassie? Ah think ye might be a smithy at heart. Ye think ye c’n make another er soo b’fore ye leave? In fact, would ye’ be willin te stay?”

“Well, back home I was somewhat of the crafty type, being an artist and all. But yeah, we don’t mind staying- that is, if you’re willing to pay.”

“Lass, te fire-spirit in me forge alone I’d pay for. This? Ye make a hunnerd coins each one ye make. If’n they improove, ah’ll pay two hunnered apiece.”

Rose’s eyes widened and her brows raised in surprise.

How much!?

She quickly did a mental comparison of her job at the bar to the one offered. She had made about forty coins in six weeks, working odd jobs most of the day. And right now, her first attempt at metal-working had already earned her one hundred coins for ten minutes of, admittedly difficult, enjoyable work. And she was being offered more right away, if she did it again.

She’d been away from Moon for about three hours now, maybe she should check up on him, and come back... Yeah, take her first payment and get him taken care of, come back, get more money. Maybe leave Pyrelight here to talk, or something.

“We’d love to!.. But just give us one second.”

Rose quickly grabbed Pyrelight and pulled her into a huddle.

“This guy’s offering a bunch of cash for our work. We need this job for Moon, plus food... And whatever else we need. Look, just keep him busy for a few minutes while I go run and check on Moon, okay? I’ll back in fifteen minutes.”

Pyrelight nodded, and patted Rose on the shoulder with a smile. Rose responded with a nod and a reflected smile.

“Alright, we’ll stay and work with you, but first things first- I have a friend in the Wraps’ shop right now and he can’t get anything done unless we pay the bill first. I need the cash we just made now and I’ll be back in fifteen to work again. Promise. But in the meantime, Pyrelight will stay here and begin the heating process while I’m gone to keep you company.”

“Alright, lass, tha’ sounds workable ta me. Ah’ll get yer coins real fast, hold on.”

The large changeling walked up a small set of stairs, returning moments later with a sack of coins. The pony floated the bag to Rose, who took it.

“Ah also put in tha pay fer tha fire-spirit in there.”

“Kay-kay. Be back soon.”

The blacksmith nodded, a bit confusedly. Rose quickly trotted to the shop where Moon was, entering the small building in a hurry. At the front desk was the white earth pony, Wraps.

“Oh, good, you’re back. I’ve got good news and bad. Which would you like first?”

“Good. Give me the good news.”

“Well, the operation was a success. Mr. Herald will live. As for the bad, though... well, for one, the operation was rather expensive. I know you were saying you’re low on money, so I’m willing to give you a week or so to try paying it, but the payment is going to be sixty-three coins, and we had to use a healing potion that cost another twenty, bringing the total to eighty-three in the end.

“The second piece of bad news is that he’s going to have the scars from this for the rest of his life. The burns, while effective, were not the best possible method, though few unicorns of any kind know the proper spell to use even if you did have one with you. He’ll probably also have a limp, but in the end he’s lucky he wasn’t cut entirely in half by the wisp.

“And lastly, even when you do get him out of here, he’s going to have the bandages on for weeks, and need lots of anti-contagion potions, but thankfully those are pretty cheap. I suppose that’s it for the bad news... Were you able to find anywhere that would pay?”

Rose just threw the bag containing the coins on the counter, her eyes serious as the coins rolled out of the opening.

“Give me all the bandages you have in stock.”

“I don’t think you have enough room for that many bandages, I keep my store very well stocked. My, my, you certainly made a lot in the last few hours... I hope it was legal. As for the bandages, we can easily supply you with those, and even an additional bag to hold them and the other medical supplies. Do you have someplace to stay while you wait for Mr. Herald to be able to move himself again?”

Rose simply rolled her eyes at the legality comment.

“The good news is that yes, it was legal. I seem to have found a talent for blacksmithing. And as for the bandages, just give me whatever you can. But the bad news is that we don’t particularly have a residence to stay in for the night.”

Wraps nods, and yells towards the back of store again, this time shouting at what must’ve been her husband or something to fetch and stock a medical travel bag, to set up a guest room, come sort out the payment with someone named Triage, get started on dinner, and sweep the shop, all while yelling obscenities and insults at him.

The hippogriff stepped up to the front, weaving between shelves and the like carefully, as the beleaguered stallion ran up to the front carrying a brown leather bag with a red medical symbol in a white circle as the clasp. He was also floating a black-bound book, an inkpot, and a quill. As he began counting out coins and scribbling down notes.

Wraps looked up from this disinterestedly, focusing her attention on Rose once more.

“So, a talent in blacksmithing, eh? Didja work with that bug-eye up the street then? He’s a good worker on his own, but he really should find a mare to keep him. Colts need to be protected, after all, not left to work with forges and furnaces and stuff like that. He could get hurt!”

“Yeah, that’s him. But i wouldn’t be so sure about him finding a girl, he seems fine on his own. besides, I bet there’s one looking at him already. I know I like a guy who can take care of himself, so I’m sure he already has many secret admirers.”

Wraps looked at Rose with a look like she was silly.

“Oh, please, a colt couldn’t look after himself for long. I’m sure his muscles might attract a few, but he should get some mare to take care of him, instead of just having them admiring him. A stud belongs in the kitchen or the bedroom, unless told otherwise.”

Rose caught a glimpse of both Triage and Stitches wince at the word ‘stud’, the two carefully concealing their movements from Wraps.

“A stud belongs in the kitchen or the bedroom, unless told otherwise?”

Rose repeated the statement, emphasizing the places and demands, her law clenching as she thought of all the sexist jokes people made about women back home. It sounded awful, even if it was to males for once.

She opened her mouth to snap at the comment, call her a cold hearted bitch or something along those lines, but she held her tongue. Best she kept on her good side for Moon’s sake... but still, Rose needed to put an insult in a comment somewhere, just for her own righteous concious.

“He can take care of himself, just like you and I. Probably better with the all the cash he makes forging.”

The white earth pony sighed, and patted Rose on the back.

“Dear, I understand you think they’re smart like you and me, but they’re just males. He’s got it even worse, being a changeling and all. At least he isn’t sneaking into houses to steal away our colts and replace them. Still, if it happens, at least we know who to take care of.”

Rose’s mouth dropped at the comment, taking in a deep breath as she could feel her hooves curl.

“You remind me of Jim Crowe”

“Who’s that?”

“Just a political figure where I come from.”

“Well, thank you dear. Anyways, the room will be ready by tonight. Triage, honey, have you finished the counting out the payment?”

The hippogriff nods, and explains she already included the medical travel bag as well. Rose caught a glimpse of the hippogriff, Triage, snatching the floating quill from the air as Wraps turned around.

“Alright, Ms. Rose, would you like to see the room now, or do you have other things to do in the meantime?”

“Just move Moon into the room and I’ll be back, I have a few errands I have to run before I can turn in for the night.”

“Alright, then, I’ll get him moved. Here’s your money back, and I’ll see you later, then.”

Rose only nodded and grabbed her money, running out the door before Wraps could see her gritted teeth and red face.

Doing her best not to stomp on her way back to the blacksmith’s, Rose slowly cooled down, though she still wanted to peg Wraps in the face, maybe try re-shaping it into something less... less... Rose couldn’t even think of something it’d be better as, other than flattened like a pancake.

Calm at last by the time she arrived at the blacksmith’s again, she takes one last deep breath to finish calming down. Looking in, she shouted to make sure she got the changeling’s attention.

“I’m back! And I’m ready to punch something so lets just get to work, shall we?”

“Ah, ye’re back! Goo t’ see ye, lass. Yer Blaze-friend here is truly incredible with her magics, verra impressive. Much finer than m’ own control. Anyways, if yer ready to work again, let’s get to it. Just, ah, c’n we make a few tools this time? Blades’re fine ‘n danday, but most folks want tools they c’n use.”

“Not a problem...”

Rose spoke with a clenched jaw.

“I need to blow off some steam anyways, and pounding a few tools will definitely do the trick.”

I just wish I could tape that idiot’s picture to the tools so it’d be more fun to hit them.

A few hours of smashing the metal into place, she had definitely improved, and had taken a short break in between, chatting with the changeling smith, Pyrelight, and even looking into the furnace at the new living flame kindled within, a glorious, bright-blue mare of flame and embers, laying placidly in the furnace with a belly full of coal and metal ore, occasionally placing a new pouring of metal into a receptacle nearby from her hooves.

Several axe-heads, some shovelheads, metal stakes, even a fine set of hammer heads and an impressive trios of swords were forged, the best of the lot being gifted to Rose for all her hard work, the same orange-lined ripple pattern in every piece of metal she worked with.

“Anything else you need?”

Rose asked, rolling her shoulder. Her right foreleg was black to the knee, and the color did not seem to be fading.

“Ye’ve helped me so much alreedy, lass. Here’s the last ‘o yer pay fer yer work. Ye ever need work agin, an yer in town, stop by. It’s been a pleasure meetin’ ye, and a pleasure workin’ with ye. I hope ye find yer place to settle someday, ye’ve got the makings of a fine smithy, tween tha two of ye.”

The changeling chuckled heartily at the comment, then pointed at her blackened leg.

“Aye, lass, the forge ‘as already claimed ye, sure ‘nuff. I hereby give ye the title Blackhoof, as a sister smith. Wear it well, Rose Blackhoof, it suits ye.”

Rose let out a triumphant huff paired with a smile.

“I can guarantee I will.”

She lifted her blackened hoof for a shake, the changeling smith accepting it with a smile.

“As fer me, ye can call me Smith Smith. After all, ah be a smith, and Smith be a nopony name, aye?”

“Smith Smith? Well, I gotta tell ya Smithy, I’ve never heard a name like yours, but I promise not to forget it. See ya around.”

Smith Smith nodded brightly, and Pyrelight and Rose trotted happily back to the clinic shop. While Pyre got an odd look from Triage, they were let in, and led up to a room on the second floor. Inside was a couple of beds, a single storage shelf thing, and something wonderful:

Moon Herald, lounging in a bed, a tray covered in food scraps next to him. There were lots of thick bandages over his torso, shoulders, and left foreleg, but he seemed to be sleeping peacefully, chest rising and falling slowly.

Rose just smiled at the sight and went to the bed, touching his cheek lightly with a hoof only to leave a black mark from her blackened hoof. She let out a small laugh before yawning from the day’s work.

“C’mon, time to hit the hay.”

Rose let out another yawn and before walking over to the other bed and plopping down on it, falling asleep instantly from exhaustion.

Author's Note

There you have it: Rose's cutie-mark actually has meaning... Who woulda thunked it?

Anyhow, send me any pleas for correction or improvement as needed.