An Island built in the sky

by Brotato

Ch. 16: It's good to be back

Chapter 16

It's good to be back

"Guards, release Hammer at once," Celestia commanded in a stern tone. Within several seconds, the group of guards piled off their victim and quickly stood at attention toward her. Hammer took this moment to stumble across the room and sit next to Twilight, away from the guards. "I would say I'm disappointed in all of you for not being able to capture a single pony, but I'm not." Several of the guards relaxed a bit upon hearing this. "In fact, I'm only disappointed in my unicorn guard who didn't have the brilliant idea to use holding magic to keep him in place. It Makes me wonder if you were only chasing him for the sport of it."

Her disappointed look brought an uneasiness to the unicorns in front of her. "Because of your actions, I will be having a word with Shining armor about it later. Until then all of you are to return to your posts." The guards quickly filed out of the room, the unicorns ahead of everypony else, until the room was empty. Celestia then turned to her sister with the same disappointed frown on her face. "Luna..."

"We were only doing what we thought was the best course of action," she explained herself quickly while prodding both hooves together nervously. "Who knows what his intentions may have been."

Celestia let a soft laugh escape her lips, which cause Luna to furrow her brow in confusion. "I'll admit, I could have stopped it as well, but I found it too entertaining. Although the entertaining part disappeared quickly after most of the on-duty guard joined the chase, but I suppose I am to blame as much as you are." Luna let a smile appear on her face, which brought one to Celestia's as well. "For now, let's not dwell upon it as we have guests." She turned to look toward Twilight. "I'm sorry you had to see that Twilight. I'm sure your brother will be quite busy this week."

Twilight took a moment to straighten her messy mane. "Oh, it's quite alright. I should be apologizing for coming like this." She pointed at the purple mess on her head. "It kinda got stuck like this after teleporting in front of Canterlot."

"Oh?" She giggled as her new mane style reminded her of a certain pink party pony. "May I ask how far you traveled?"

Twilight helped herself to a seat next to where Celestia soon sat down in her own. "Not too far," Twilight said calmly. "Only roughly the distance between Canterlot and Trottingham."

"Trottingham?" Shock obvious in Celestia voice. "Twilight, I know you're the element of magic, but you must be more careful. Long distance teleportation is dangerous, even for you," she scolded.

"I know," Twilight hung her head in shame. "But I had to get here A.S.A.P before Hammer got in trouble because of my mishap." She glanced at Hammer who was busy helping himself to the after-breakfast tea. "To which I'm grateful he's not in the dungeon at the moment. Speaking of... I hope you found Hammer's report satisfactory?"

"It was quite an... interesting subjecy. There's a story to it, but he prefers to keep it a secret from me."

"Actually, secrets is the reasons I came here to meet you, Princess. Before I say anything on the subject, could you make this conversation a bit more private?

Celestia simply nodded and with a pulse of her horn, a soundproof spell was cast on the entire room. "Better?" She smiled.

"Much better, thank you. Now I want both of you to trust me when I say this. It may sound far-fetched, but I truly believe what Hammer has told me is the truth." The two Princesses only nodded in understanding and Twilight took a deep breath before she 'spilled the beans'.

"Hammer isn't a pony."

The room seemed to grow uncomfortably quiet as the Princesses stared at Twilight and Hammer. After they had switched looking at the two ponies several times did Celestia speak up. "Care to explain, my student? Are you saying he's a changeling?"

"What? No! He's... something called a Hewman, but he's somehow a pony, but... Ugh!" Twilight looked ready to ruffle her already messy mane since she couldn't find the right words. "Maybe it would be better if you explain it to them Hammer."

"Alright." Hammer stood up in his chair and took a deep breath. "Like she said, I'm a human. Think of us as hairless intelligent monkeys who have lifestyles just like yours. Only we... wear clothes all the time." He scratched his mane as he found himself getting off track. "Back in my world, everyone would call me 'Kid'. After awhile I gave up on my real name and just stuck with it. The world I came from is called Caelondia. I could tell you everything about it, but we would be here throughout the rest of the day. Instead, I'll tell you how I ended up here.

"A day ago I brought Twilight and her friends to the Bastion. A floating island of paradise we brought with us just above Trottingham."

"Us? There are more of you... 'hewmans'?"

"Humans," Hammer corrected politely. "And yes, there are two others who are my close friends. Anyway, the Bastion was supposed to restore our world, but for some reason it sent us to your world instead. As for why I'm now a pony, that brings us to why we're here. We need a really big favor from you."

Celestia glanced at Twilight to confirm if she was in on this as well. "Very well. What is your 'really big favor'?"

"We need the magic-drain spell."

Immediately the friendliness from both Princess' disappeared. Celestia stared at Hammer as if he had just slapped her. "How do you know of that spell?" She asked in a hushed tone, even when there was a soundproof spell up.

"He may have heard me mention it while I was talking to some friends in Sugarcube Corner, Princess," Twilight explained nervously. "Rarity and I came to the conclusion that when Hammer entered our world, he soaked up enough magic that his body forcefully turned into a pony. Hammer told me that in his world, magic isn't as abundant as ours. So it might be possible his body adapted to this environment. Just like how our coats get thicker during the winter."

"All ponies do have some form of magic surrounding them," Luna added. "I am not surprised he is a Earth pony as they have the smallest aura of magic. Your guess is possibly the correct answer to his problem, Twilight."

Celestia nodded toward Luna in agreement for her deduction. "I can see where you're going with needing this spell then. However, I cannot give it to you. I trust you with all my heart, Twilight. But some things are best kept locked away from anypony." Twilight nodded her head in understanding. "Instead I will cast the spell myself. Butt are you certain you wish to do this? Draining somepony of their aura may have side effects even I don't know about."

"No offense, Princess," Hammer began. "But as much as I enjoy being a pony. I would take that risk just to be human again."

Celestia laughed. "No offense taken. I doubt I would enjoy being human either. Now let's begin" Her horn began to glow and she slowly pointed toward Hammer. "Please leave the chair and stand away from the table please."

"Right now? Uh... maybe we should do this somewhere else?" Hammer asked. He watched Celestia's horn nervously, but following her orders anyway. "Last time I checked, I'm not wearing any clothes as a pony. Well, besides my scarf, but that doesn't cover up-" Before Hammer could finish, Celestia fired a beam of white light that was hollow in the middle. It zipped toward him and stopped an inch from his torso, touching his aura. It then began to funnel through the spell like a giant straw and enter through Celestia's horn without any problems.

"Huh, well that felt tingly."

"Do you feel any different?" Twilight asked

"Nothing seems out-of-place, but I have this sudden feeling to start standing on my hind-legs." He gladly started doing that, which the others in the room looked at him funnily. He wasn't paying attention to them as his hooves began to turn transparent. Underneath were five familiar digits he hasn't seen in a long time. It looked like his entire pony body was a illusion slowly fading away. Starting at his four hooves and slowly going up his body. He was greatly relieved when his armor and all his clothes was under the "illusion", Making him wonder why his scarf wasn't hidden.

Because it's magic dummy, he thought sarcastically.

His head and tail was the last to go, revealing his still pure-white and messy hair. When he was back in his human form he immediately felt a familiar tug on his back. He swung a arm over his shoulder and pulled out his Cael Hammer. Feeling the weight in his hands again, he had the sudden urge to smash something, but held it in check for now.

Twilight's jaw hung open as he took in his new form. She always blieved he was telling the truth, but to see the real thing still shocked her. Realizing she was staring, she blushed and shook her head to clear the stunned effect she was feeling. "Wow. You weren't kidding when you said hairless ape." She slowly approched to further examined Hammer's new body. "I can see why you would wear so much clothing. You must be freezing during the winter!" She circled around to look some more, but stopped when she saw something unusual. "Why do you have a giant cog strapped to your back?"

Hammer turned his head back to look at it. "Oh, that's Caelondia's-"

"Twilight, I'm sure he'll have plenty of time to explain that later. Right now we have more important issues. Such as: How are we going to introduce you to the rest of Equestria?" Celestia asked.

Hammer tapped a finger to his lip thoughtfully. "I have an idea that might kill three birds with one stone."

"W-why would you want to kill three innocent birds?" Twilight said in exasperation.

"Whoa! calm down Twilight. It's a manner of speech. What I'm trying to say is we can do three tasks at once." He felt relieved when Twilight didn't look like she was going to spear him with her horn. "I'd like to prove myself to pony society. Secondly, I'd like to repay the Princess back for turning me human again. And thirdly, I want to put my hammer to good use." A smile formed on Kid's lips as he hefted his hammer. "So I gotta ask...

"Got any walls that need being built?"

---

Celestia, along with four royal guards, escorted Kid through Canterlot's halls. Twilight had to depart for a bit to fix her mane and send a letter to her friends so they knew where she was. 'Let's just hope the mail-pegasus doesn't find it odd I want a letter sent to an island above Trottingham.' She had said before leaving.

"The royal masons take their jobs very seriously, Hammer. Without them, there wouldn't be a Canterlot. I hope you know what you're getting yourself into."

Hammer had his hammer resting on his right shoulder as they walked passed two servants who were staring at him. "I worked for ten years as a mason in my homeland. Hard brutalizing work that left new members sore across their entire bodies. I'm sure anything they throw at me will be nothing." Celestia hummed with a smirk before turning her head back toward their destination. Soon they approached a pair of solid bronze doors. The windows next to them showed a garden on the other side.

"The royal masons are currently expanding the eastern wing to allow more guest rooms." Celestia explained as the escort opened the doors for them and they proceeded through the gardens. Arrays of flowers, bushes, and even vegetables were on display in neat rows. They continued through the garden, passing by several stone statues. To their left was a large hedge maze. "I hope what you said is true, Hammer. This isn't easy work. Even for them."

"We'll see," Hammer simply responded. They walked down the small cobblestone path and passed more statues until the sound of masonwork could be heard ahead of them. Further ahead, partially behind the hedge maze, were several ponies standing on stacks of large white stones. There didn't seem to be a preferred class of pony to do the work. Earth, pegasus, and unicorn ponies were working together to move the large shaped stones into place. It was already obvious they were creating one of the many long hallways the castle was notorious for having. Off to the side, a earth pony was behind a desk looking over blueprints.

"That's Chip Mason." Celestia motioned toward the pony who was looking over the project. "Or Chip Mason Jr. Though he prefers the 'Jr' left out." Chip must have heard her voice as his head raised from his table to look her way. As the group moved toward the work site, Chip moved toward them until they met in the middle of it.

"Good morning Princess," he said with a small bow. Chip's voice had a airy tone like a pony who didn't like getting their hooves dirty. Hammer was starting to think he was in the wrong business. "Progress is going smoothly and we should be done on schedule."

"That's good to hear, Mr. Mason, but I'm not here to inspect your progress. I have... somepony who would like to work with you."

"With all of my respect Princess, but I already have the best working on this. Anypony else would just slow us down. No. No. He will have to go away."

Okay, now I really hate this pony. He either has leverage or has some massive stones for saying no to the Princess like that.

"Just give him a chance. I'm sure you'll find him a great asset to your work. I assure you." Chip chewed on his bottom lip thoughtfully before speaking again.

"Very well, where is he?" Celestia moved out-of-the-way so he could get a clear look at Hammer. He blinked several times as he examined him for a moment a shook his head. "No, he will not do. I won't risk my neck with the help of this... ape."

"I have a name you know," Hammer stated flatly.

"Ye gods! and it speaks too!"

"That's not the only thing I want to do right now," Hammer growled while gripping his mace tightly. A quick stare from Celestia made him lessen his grip and turn away in anger.

"Chip, you will accept his help. Unless of course you wish for your father to know you turned down help..." If Chip's eyes could get any bigger, they might have rolled out.

"N-no that's quite alright. He's most welcome to help us with our work!"

Celestia let a coy smile form on his lips. "Glad to hear it." She turned away to look at Hammer. "I'd love to stay, but my royal duties shall begin soon. When you're done, meet me in the throne room. It's just behind that door and down the hallway." She pointed toward a set of doors located near the stone statues. With the four guards following behind, she bid farewell and left Hammer and Chip alone.

Neither of them looked at each other as they made their way toward the work site. "So what do you need done?" Hammer asked, hoping to at least start a conversation on their common goal. Chip only grunted and returned to his blueprints. After watching him scribble several things down on a pencil did he start to get impatient. "Look, I get you don't like me, but I want to help anyway. So can you please-"

"Shh," Chip shushed.

"Can you-"

"Shh."

"B-"

"You really want to help?" Chip's voice sounding like he was serious. Hammer at this point was rubbing his thumb and forefinger on the bridge of his nose.

"That would be wonderful, yes."

"Then you can go back to wherever you came from, and work there." Hammer's jar was slightly open as he registered what Chip just said.

"I... can't. It's not that easy"

"Well, why not?" Chip finally set the pencil down, since he hasn't written aything done while talking like this.

Hammer's anger was starting to get through as it was evident in his rising voice. "I don't want to talk about it. Nor would I even want to tell you. Just give me my damn job and I'll leave you alone."

"You just won't give up, will you? Listen you foal-" Their argument was cut off as a worker appeared to their side. The female pegasus pony stopped for a moment to eye Hammer uncertainly before reporting to Chip.

"S-sir, we have a problem."

"What is it this time?" Chip snapped. Most of his anger still from his argument with Hammer. The results were still effective to say the least when the worker flinched.

"Somepony fudged on the stone cutting by a half inch and one of the stones won't fit properly."

"Well take it out and cut the stone the extra half inch. Is it really that hard?" The look the worker was giving him said it all. He let out a sigh and buried his face in his hooves. "The block is stuck, isn't it?"

"Yes sir," the pegasus quietly said. All three of them didn't say a peep for a while. Over at the work site, yelling could be heard as they tried to figure out what to do themselves. Finally Chip snapped out of his daze and began trotting toward the site with Hammer followed shortly after him. They arrived at the site to find the wall in perfect shape. Every stone was in place and resting under three more rows, all except one. A stubborn block was barely even in its spot and hung on a small part of its edge.

"Alright. All of you!" chip yelled to get everypony's attention. "Because of your stupidity, we now have to take down the entire wall just to take this single stone out. I don't want to know how, what, why, when, or who. Just do it.

"Chip, I have an easier-"

"I don't want to hear it. I said what needs to be done and that's final."

"Mr. Mason-"

"Don't try to butter me up with the titles. Now move it or lose it." Hammer slowly breathed through his nose to calm his rising anger. The last thing he would want to do is hurt anypony. "Stop standing there like an idiot! I said- Urk!" Hammer grabbed Chip's face and brought it so it was level with his. About a heads worth.

"I've dealt with your kind before back home. They didn't care if I was a good worker because of the color of my hair. Years I had to deal with their condescending crap, and right now I'm tired of yours. If you don't want my help, fine. But I'm going to be a nice guy and do this for you just to show how stupidly short-sighted you are." He released Chip, and he fell on his side with a grunt.

Still feeling the burning anger toward Chip, Hammer purposefully strode toward the stubborn block with his hammer pointed low. It was around several strides long, about as tall as him, and roughly a Cael Hammer's length deep. Already the edges showed some feeble attempt to nudge it in or file it down. He could almost feel the curious eyes around him as they stopped following Chip's orders to watch him. Taking a quick stance with his feet spread far apart, he took several deep breaths. He focused on the center of the stone and never took his eyes off it while standing as still like the very wall ahead of him. The only sound that told you he was about to swing, was the sound of his hands tightening around the handle.

Like a top, he quickly spun in place to build momentum. With perfect precision through experience and countless times pulling it off, he widely swung his hammer; hitting the stone dead-center. The loud sound of stone sliding against stone filled the entire work area as the large block slid into place in a perfect fit. Everpony's jaw went slack when that happened. Even Chip was flabbergasted with what just occurred. Kid simply strode away, a clear smirk on his face for a job well done. As he passed by Chip, he stopped to look down at him.

"If it makes you feel any better. I imagined the center of the block was your face." With that said, Hammer made his way to the throne room while whistling a tune.

Comments

[Paper Crease]

"If it makes you feel any better. I imagined the center of the block was your face."

Ouch. Dat insult.

[Kage no Brony]

1111646

Not so much an insult as a threat. Basically Hammer said: I would have beaten you, but i'd get in trouble for that, so i took it out on that stone instead.

[Dawalkindude]

Now that he is human again, is he going to be Hammer or The Kid?

[Brotato]

1112925 Everypony except Rucks and Zia will probably stick to calling him Hammer.

[Omega_code]

Now that Hammer/Kid is a human again are we going to see more uses of the weapons? Like the calamity cannon?

Anyway, can't wait for next chapter.

[Sandvich]

"If it makes you feel any better. I imagined the center of the block was your face."
i.chzbgr.com/completestore/2012/2/14/67f88407-4c9f-482d-80ab-1ca76f713b51.png

[Brotato]

1118168 Yes. The Calamity cannon? Highly doubt it, but we'll see.

[Rainbow_Dashtruction]

Twilight helped herself to a seat next to where Celestia soon sat down in her own. "Not too far," Twilight said calmly. "Only roughly the distance between Canterlot and Trottingham."

Well I'l just look at the ol' offical map of Equestria an... MOTHER OF CELESTIA, Trottingham isn't even in Equestria! Thats a mother fucking long way away

[Rainbow_Dashtruction]

1118166 The calamity cannon would only be used if he launched a war on Equestria. And I doubt thats gonna happen.

[Omega_code]

1210638
1The song doesn't play in the game. You can only hear it on the OST.