Hammer and Harmony

by omniblitz

Armor and Weapons

Spike woke to three very insist knocks on the door.

“Spike! Spike! Are you in there?” Twilight asked desperately from outside.

Seeing Kajiya was already awake and working with the scrap orichalum, Spike ran over the door and opened it, revealing a very frazzled Twilight.

“Hi Twilight! Sorry about that, it was late when we finished last night, and Kajiya let me stay the night.”

“Oh goodness, Spike don’t do that to me! I was worried all night about you. You have chores to do today!”

“But I wanted to help Kajiya again!”

“You can help him tomorrow. You’re coming home right now and starting your chores.”

“Ugh. Fine.” Calling back to the forge Spike said, “Kajiya, I’ll be back tomorrow okay?”

“Return when you can, young dragon,” Kajiya said between hammer strikes, “Twilight Sparkle bring your friends here the after tomorrow for the final fitting.”

Twilight nodded, saying “Alright. Come on Spike, let’s head to the library.”

---

At the library, Spike slowly went through his chores. This was partly because of him being miffed slightly at Twilight for taking away his time at Kajiya’s, but mostly because of the soreness that had seeped into his muscles from yesterday. Determined to get to the forge early, Spike finished his chores shortly after dinner and went to bed.

The next morning came quickly and once again Spike found himself in the forge at the normal time.

“Young dragon, you return. Yesterday, I finished the helmets and horseshoes,” Kajiya said pointing to the helmets and regalia-like shoes by each set of armor.

Spike noticed that one set of armor was missing its set, and that white lines were traced over each set of armor, along with a painting of each of the mare’s cutie marks on the front armor disk. “Today we carve, young dragon,” Kajiya continued, handing a glowing blade knife, “This is an orichalum knife, made for engraving other orichalum. Just carve a slight indent on each white line.”

“Alright!” Spike replied enthusiastically as he sat down beside a set of armor, Pinkie’s he presumed, as he noticed the missing shoes. Spike noticed quickly that the lines on the armor had a defined pattern: a long, thick white line appeared on both sides slightly below the spine, along with branching white lines away from the large line that reminded Spike of the roots of a tree. Spike also noticed that along the two large white lines, small symbols were drawn in white. Thanks to Twilight’s lectures, Spike recognized the words as ancient Equestrian words. A few of them seemed imprinted in his mind as he etched them out:

δύναμη. ελέγχου. αυξάνουν.

Curious, Spike asked, “Why are there ancient Equestrian words drawn in white?”

“It is one of the languages of power. When magic is added to those words, their meaning becomes reality, young dragon.”

Surprised, but accepting, of his newfound knowledge, Spike fell back into his rhythm tracing the small white lines. It was a tedious process, for the words written on the armor stretched from end to end along the main line. As Kajiya completed his fourth set, Spike completed his second and the pair was finished with their task.

“It is still early, young dragon. Shall we continue the next step?”

“Yeah! What’s next?

“Gems must be placed into the lines we carved.”

“So that’s what the gems were for!”

“Yes. Now, let us work.”

Spike proved quite adept at placing the small crushed gemstone within the small cracks provided, matching the pony’s practiced speed. Around 4 P.M. Spike finally realized he was very hungry. Luckily, the task was finished.

“One more thing,” Kajiya told Spike, “but it will not take long. We must place the armor into this box.” He pointed to a medium sized metal crate that seemed just the right size to hold the six sets of armor.

“Why do we need to put them into the crate?”

“The crate has enchantments on it, to make it distilled pure magic, and transfer that magic into whatever you place into it. The magic it imbues will power the runes we placed upon the armor,” Kajiya explained as he and Spike loaded the sets of armor into the crate which was lined with arcane runes on the inside.

“Well, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow,” Spike said as he opened to the door to leave.

---

Tomorrow came quickly for Spike, and slowly for Twilight and her friends, who were dreading having to deal with the abrasive Kajiya. As normal, the group of seven appeared at Kajiya’s door early that morning, announcing their arrival with three knocks.

“Come in,” Kajiya called from inside. When he saw who it was, he continued, “Good, you are here. I must make sure armor fits.”

The inside of the small house was similar to the other time the ponies had come by, except this time, six sets of armor greeted their eyes. The final product was something to behold indeed, even for Spike who had helped in the forging.

Each set of armor had changed from black in color into a silver, steely metal, and the crushed gemstone had reformed in the cracks as a pure shining gem. The helmets and horseshoes were in a similar condition. Needless to say, the jaws of five ponies and one dragon hit the floor. Rarity simply fainted.

“I have weapons to forge. Each of you must quickly try on your armor,” Kajiya stated.

Noticing the gems on the armor, Twilight quickly came to a conclusion that frightened her, “Um, Kajiya, are you sure these are safe? You put gems where the leylines of a pony are, and words of ancient Equestrian along the spinal leyline.”

“Yes. And I soaked them in a magic still for twelve hours. This is the proper way to make orichalum armor.”

Lifting her set up, Twilight realized it weighed a lot less than any steel of the same size. She also noticed the perfectly replicated version of her cutie mark on the front chest piece that appeared painted and then burned into the armor. Pulling the set over her head and securing the stomach strap it occurred to her that the armor fit perfectly.

Pinkie had already put her armor on, yelling, “Hey these don’t weigh anything!” She bounced around the room to prove her point.

“Hey yeah, you’re right Pinkie!” Dash commented

“Good, they all fit perfectly. Now, I must make weapons. Stay or leave as you wish.”

Twilight perked up slightly from her inspection of the armor. “How can we ever thank you enough? They’re wonderful.”

“I have recieved my thanks already. I need no more.”

“But there must be something we can do, darling. These works of art are simply divine,” Rarity complimented.

“If you want to thank me, then use your armor. Wear it for a day or two, and get used to how it affects your body.”

“What in tarnation are you talkin’ bout, how’ll this stuff affect us?”

“Applejack, Kajiya means that the enchantments he etched into the armor will increase our physical and magical abilities drastically.”

“Twilight Sparkle is correct. Pegasi will fly faster, unicorn magic will be stronger, and earth ponies will have the strength of mountains. Except for Fluttershy, for her armor is a unicorn’s armor.”

“Huh? Why is Fluttershy’s different?” Twilight asked.

“Because she rolled a star, meaning her power lies in magic. So I gave her mage armor, instead of pegasi armor.”

“Well girls, I guess that’s everything. We should probably get back now,” Twilight stated.

“Eeyup, I gotta buck apples.”

“And I have to bake cupcakes!” Pinkie shouted, quickly disappearing from the room.

“Oh man I gotta see if this stuff makes me faster!” Dash quickly . . . er, umm, dashed . . . out of the room.

The remaining ponies left, leaving Kajiya and Spike alone in the house.

“So what now Kajiya?” Spike asked.

“Now, we fold mithril.”

Spike groaned.

“But only two bars, and only 100 times. Mithril is already almost good enough for the weapons.”

“Can I help fold?” Spike asked, thinking the pony would say no.

“Yes. You shall do one bar, and I will do the other, and we shall be done by lunch.”

Spike’s jaw dropped at the amount of trust he was just given. He was going to make Neighponese mithril, despite the fact he had hardly knew this pony! Now determined not to mess anything up, Spike nodded.

The pair turned to the forge, which already contained four mithril bars, and began the tedious work of folding. At the beginning, Spike had trouble because his small body couldn’t bring the hammer down with as much force as Kajiya could. Spike rectified this problem with faster, smaller strikes, striking twice for each one of the pony next to him.

Kajiya was more than a bit surprised when the dragon proved able to match his speed. A slow smile crept over Kajiya’s face, the first smile Spike had seen from him.

After a long while, 100 folds were completed, and Spike was thoroughly exhausted. He plopped himself on the floor with a glass of water and bowl of oats for lunch.

“Good work, dragon. You have great talent for the forge,” Kajiya said as he sat down to his own meal.

“Thanks,” Spike said, blushing at the comment. He paused as he realized something. “Hey! You didn’t call me young!”

“Well, you proved yourself capable these last days. A capable dragon is not a young dragon, in my eyes.” Spike’s eyes widened slightly at Kajiya’s words.

“Next, we must forge weapons, now that metal is ready. You shall take one bar, split it, forge one piece into disk, and the other into horseshoes for Pinkie."

“Okay, Kajiya!” Spike said, jumping out of his seat.

“You are a friend of mine,” the pony said. He paused. “My name is Gizo Tamashi. Tell nopony else. You may call me Gizo.”

If Spike was Rarity, he’d have fainted right there. He’d been studying Neighpon traditions in his spare time, out of curiosity about the pony. To be trusted with their true name was the highest level of trust Neighponese could have between two ponies without marriage. Spike felted honored, but he merely nodded and headed towards the furnace.

From the furnace, Gizo withdrew one bar and quickly split it in twain with one strike from his chisel. Spike took the pieces, and placed them back into the heat for a moment while Gizo took another bar and started to shape it into a longsword for Twilight. Spike quickly withdrew a half-bar, and shaped it into a circle with quick hammer blows and reheating.

Unsure of what to do with the finished disk, and seeing Gizo entranced in his work, Spike shrugged and placed the finished piece back into the forge. Withdrawing the other half, Spike flattened the piece with hammer falls, then rolled the metal into a tube. He then placed the tube into the furnace for heating, then withdrew the tube and hammered it into a square form to re-meld the metal.

Heating the piece once more, Spike chiseled the piece into four smaller rods. Quickly heating the four rods, he walked over to the mannequin. Using the hoof as a guide, he bent the rods into the correct shape, one after another. As Spike finished the shoes, he saw Gizo nod his head towards the water barrel, so Spike threw the shoes in for quenching.

Around that time, Gizo finished the shaping on the longsword, and quickly plunged it into a barrel of oil. He then reheated the sword once more before quenching it in the water barrel.

“Good job on the shoes dragon. Let us finish the disk.”

“I thought it was finished?”

“No. It must be melded with the crystal you got from Rarity.”

“How’s that work?”

“Take the crystal, and place it in the forge on top of the disk.”

Spike did so, to no noticeable effect.

“Now take both, and quickly place them into the magic still. That will merge them together.”

Extremely skeptical, Spike did as he was told. As he placed the crystal, which had started to melt into the mithril, into the crate, a great hissing noise was produced. The heat started to evaporate the glowing-purple, condensed magic liquid. Magic sparks flew out of the crate, but to Spike’s amazement, the metal he held in the tongs quickly melted into the crystal, creating a solid blue crystalline disk.

“Th-Th-That was amazing,” Spike stuttered,

“It always is. Unfortunately, you don’t have experience to forge the wing blades or rapier, so watch and learn as I do. Actually… Do you know how to braid four strands, dragon?”

Remembering his lessons from Rarity, Spike nodded enthusiastically.

“Then take the mithril thread,” Gizo pointed to the couch on which the thread lay, “And braid strands of four together until you have no more strands.”

---

Rhythm once again overtook the pair. Spike braided the threads as he’d been taught to braid pony’s hair, and Gizo fell into the practiced hammer falls as he forged the last two bars into a rapier, and a blade of feather-like wing blades, along with a small bugle. As Gizo finished the final adjustments on the wing blades, Spike finished the final braid, leaving 16 small ropes of mithril.

“We are done for today,” the pony said. “Come tomorrow, and we shall finish the weapons with hilts and sharpening.”

“Alright. See you tomorrow, Gizo!”

Comments

[DragonPony]

These story should get alot more attention then it is. It is really interesting to read and is a joy to watch them craft what I am feeling will be epic weapons and armor.

[tobbydark]

Man I like this story. I have a few ideas but I really want to learn where the plot is going.

[bonamb]

I initially approached this with trepidation, now it seems I made the right choice in reading it xD
Tis wonderful

[Ziper Ace]

I wonder how the armour affect their experience