Forge walked along the lightly lit path to the smith’s shop in the early morning light, still somewhat waking up while his companion, Swiftsword, was walking along with a grin on her face and her tail wagging like a puppy expecting a fresh, tasty bone.
It had been four days since Swift had placed her order for a custom sword and two days since the cheque cleared. With payment complete, it was an all hooves and talons on deck situation for this sword’s crafting. Silver Swirl had insisted that even the shavings of mystibane were to be stored away for future use because of how much they cost.
Now, Swiftsword was excited beyond belief at the thought of the weapon she would soon receive. Forge wished her energy was infectious so he wouldn’t need coffee in the morning.
The two soon arrived at the smithy and stepped inside, where Silver Swirl was sitting behind her desk with a large smile on her face.
“Good morning, you two,” she said as Swift came up to the counter. “Miss Falchion, you’ll be pleased to know your sword is ready to be taken home.
“Thank you, Miss Swirl!” Swift’s voice cracked during her exclamation, the act causing a faint blush to appear on her cheeks. “Ah-hem. My apologies, Miss Swirl. I’m just… incredibly excited about this. May I please have my sword?”
“Of course,” Swirl replied before ducking behind the counter, coming back up with the sword in its scabbard and placing it on the counter. “Ready for your inspection.”
Swift’s horn glowed a pale blue as her magic picked up the weapon by its hilt and pulled it from its scabbard.
The noblemare was awed by the beautiful black sword. The blade, the crossguard, the pommel, everything was exactly as she had hoped.
“Tis the most magnificent weapon I’ve ever seen,” Swift whispered with stars in her eyes as she looked over every last millimeter of the sword. She then cleared her throat before turning to face Forge.
“My friend, it’s time to test this sword’s anti-magic capabilities.” Swift quickly moved into a combative stance, ready to be attacked. “First, try to pull the blade from my grasp.” The light of her horn glowed bright as she tightened her grip on the handle.
Forge’s horn ignited in a flaming orange as he fell into a similar stance. He tried to focus his aura onto the blade, but found his magic simply fizzling out, barely forming the faintest of sparkles within centimeters of the blade.
“Excellent!” A vicious grin formed on Swift’s face as she saw how ineffective Forge’s attempt to take the blade was. “Now, fire upon me! Blast me with all your might!”
“Whoa, wait a sec—!” Silver Swirl tried to shout, but Forge launched a volley of magic shots towards the noblemare without hesitation.
The sword quickly moved in the air, slashing at each shot and reducing them to nothing, much to Swift’s delight.
“Fantastic work, Miss Swirl,” Swift said as she sheathed her weapon and turned her attention to the shaking shopkeeper. “All your staff deserve great praise for all the work they did in crafting this magnificent blade.”
“N-no problem, Swift. But next time, could you test your new weapon outside? Or more preferably, at your home?” Swirl’s right eye twitched as she glared at the unicorn mare.
“Ah. Of course,” Swift sheepishly said before turning to the door. “At any rate, you have my sincerest thanks and I do hope to do business with you again. Farewell.”
“Well, I’m glad she’s a satisfied customer,” Forge said as he headed into the back and his friend slipped outside. “I’ll be clocking in, Boss!”
***
The morning had soon given way to afternoon and as Forge left the shop, the sun was starting to set.
“Good evening, Forge!” An approaching mare made Forge’s ears stand at attention. Looking to the source, he saw Swiftsword approaching. “How was your day, my friend?”
“It was pretty good,” Forge replied as she reached his side. “We got a good amount of work done and Asta confirmed that she’s pregnant.”
“Ah, wonderful!” Swift replied as she and Forge set off towards the manor. “I wonder how Erica is taking the news that she'll be a big sister.”
“I’m not sure she knows, yet,” Forge said. “Asta told me she only got the confirmation from her doctor today.”
“Fair enough,” Swift said as she turned her gaze skyward, carefully watching the first stars of the night taking their place in the heavens. “Still, based on what I’ve seen of her character, I don’t doubt she’ll be a good sister to them.”
A faint chuckle came from the cobalt stallion. “It’s kinda funny to think how well we get along with griffins nowadays, considering what we went through with training and the war.”
“Oh, most certainly,” Swift said as she turned her attention back to her companion. “I still vividly remember being taught by my father which parts of a griffin were best to slash, depending on intent. Things such as how to readily remove their wings or cripple them and leaving them to bleed out slowly. And now, I serve food to griffins almost daily.”
“Yeah, and to think, it’s been less than a year since we left the empire.” It was now Forge’s turn to gaze upon the stars. “So much has changed.”
“Still, I am rather thankful that those I care deeply about are still by my side,” Swift said as pegasi lit some of the streets’ lanterns. “Never forget that you and the others are cherished loved ones, just as much as my brother was.”
“Thanks, Swift,” Forge said as he looked the taller mare in the eye. “The feeling’s very mutual.”
***
As Swift and Forge entered the manor’s front door, the two were surprised by the sight of Verdant in the kitchen with a bowl of fruit on his head and his saddlebags at his sides.
“Ah, perfect timing, Swift!” Verdant said as he turned towards the living room. “Could both of you follow me? There’s a couple of ponies here to speak with you.”
With a quick flare of Swift’s horn, the noblemare was at Verdant’s side while Forge had to run up to them quickly.
When they arrived in the living room, the entire household was gathered while a pair of unfamiliar unicorns sat on the couch. One was a stallion with a cream colored coat and a short yet styled deep, grayish blue mane while the other was a pink coated mare with a long, flowing blonde mane and a sharp blue suit jacket and red tie.
“Ah, Miss Swiftsword, it’s an honor and a privilege to meet you,” the unknown stallion said as he held out a foreleg to her. “Allow me to introduce myself. I’m Pencil Scratch, the author of the Flame Crest books. The mare by my side is Fine Print, my lawyer.”
“Charmed tah meet yah, darlin’.” She also held out a hoof that didn’t have to wait long before Swift had shook both of them.
“Good evening, Mr. Scratch and Miss Print,” Swift said as Verdant placed the bowl of fruit on the coffee table in front of them. “To what do I owe the pleasure of your company? I assume this has something to do with your line of books?”
“Ah, I’m glad to hear you’d like to get straight to the point,” Scratch said before clearing his throat. “Yes, I’m here because my editor recently informed me that you’re still alive, which might make some of my books involving you as a character a bit problematic.”
“What mah client means is that since you’re not a long deceased historical figure, your appearance in future books and more importantly, merchandise and reprints of past books, will likely have some legal complications if we can’t get yah tah sign off on them.”
“Well then,” Swiftsword said as her magic pulled a chair from the kitchen and she sat down on it. “It would be most fortunate that I recently started to read some of your books. While there are some things I do not like with my characterization in them, my character has so far been rather minor. This has the benefit of being less bothersome than if I were a more major character.”
“Yeah, that certainly helps,” Pencil replied. “I tried to focus mostly on Mars due to the lack of historical information about you. I was hoping to do something based on you and your old squad, but I’d probably need your help tracking down them or their closest surviving relatives if I wanted to do that.”
“Well, you can actually skip that part,” Hatty casually said from his spot by Gem. “We’re all here, so you can get info about us straight from the horses’ mouths.”
Pencil Scratch’s jaw dropped, stunned. His eyes slowly swept over the ponies in the room before his lawyer picked his jaw back up. “You’re… you’re all Squad 982?”
“Indeed, they are,” Barrier said from his chair. “You also have the captain that trained them and the sergeant that took them on the ill-fated journey to the Crystal Empire.”
“I… I just… Holy crap, Yearling, is this a prank?” he asked as he turned his gaze to the bespectacled pegasus.
“Nah, though it would be funny if it were,” she replied as she readjusted her glasses. “But no, these are the real deal. I met them all when I went to the Crystal Empire. I even took a photo of some of these guys shaking hooves with Queen Leena.”
“Well don’t that beat all,” Fine Print said, her horn glowing a pale green as she picked up an apple from the fruit bowl. She then looked towards the shamrock coated stallion. “Ah’ve read some of mah clients’ notes about the figures in his books. While Ah can believe most of y’all are the real deal, Ah kinda doubt yer the Verdant Range Ah read about.”
“Oh,” Verdant tilted his head in confusion. “What makes it so hard to believe I’m me?”
“The Verdant Range in the notes we were able to scrounge up was said to be a fast and effective sniper that could take out a target over eighty feet away while runnin’,” she said with her eyes closed as she brought the apple closer to her mouth. “Sorry to say it, but yah don’t really look like the sniper type. No offense.”
Just as she was about to take a bite, a quick whoosh went through the air. When she closed her mouth, Fine Print found she had only bitten the air. Opening her eyes, she saw the apple was gone. Quickly looking around the room, she gasped as she saw the apple was now impaled on an arrow that was lodged in a log in the fireplace.
“So, what was that about me not looking like a sniper?” Verdant’s words turned Fine Print’s attention to him, where she saw he was now resting a bow upon his shoulders with an amused grin on his face.
“Oh hohohoho! This is awesome!” Pencil Scratch giddily said as he childishly clapped his forehooves together. “I always wanted to see the historical figures I write about in action and I just saw a centuries old sniper showing his stuff!”
Fine Print gave Pencil Scratch a light jab in the shoulder which caused him to cough into his hoof in an effort to rein himself in and take on a more serious tone. “Right. Back to business.”
The unicorn writer’s horn glowed a vibrant yellow as he pulled out five stacks of papers from his saddlebags and floated them all in front of the privates’ faces.
“I wanted to write a brief story where griffins attacked you on the way to the Crystal Empire, but I figured I should get Swift and the rest of you to check over some of these rough character profiles I wrote up before I really start to write things.” Pencil said as the five grasped the stacks and quickly started to read them over.
The five remained silent as they read over Pencil’s writings. After a minute or two, most of them looked rather shocked and confused with the sole exception of Forge, who fell back, bursting into a fit of laughter.
“I… take it that what I got was pretty off?” Pencil nervously asked as Forge slowly rose back up, still laughing.
“Well, first of all, an attack by griffins that far north and inland would be rather… unlikely to put things gently,” Swift began as she carefully scrutinized the papers. “Secondly, even if they did show up to attack us and Sgt. Fleetfeather was not present, then I, as the senior most member of the squad, would have led the counterattack, not Forge. And I can assure you, I was very well trained in how to carve a griffin to pieces. My book counterpart seems rather… dainty.”
“You should see how they characterize the rest of us,” Hatty chirped in. “The summary here says that Gem and I were the fiercest of rivals, that we despised each other and threw a lot of tribalist comments at one another.”
“Just so you know, Mr. Scratch, Hatty and I became lovers less than two weeks after we were assigned to the squad and we’re currently engaged,” Gem said with a flat look aimed at the writer.
And I can personally attest to the less than two weeks bit. Barrier remained silent as watched the cadets.
“My character seems really cold and emotionless, save for wanting to exterminate the griffins. ‘The only good griffin is one burning to death’?” Verdant looked rather disgusted by the words on the page. “I was always hoping we’d somehow manage to end that peacefully, plus my girlfriend is a griffin.”
“Not to mention you checked out Queen Leena’s buttocks,” Swift said with a smirk towards the shamrock stallion.
“I did not!” Verdant childishly yelled back at her as his face turned a light scarlet. “I told you, I was looking at Fizzy Tower!”
“Um… Mr. Forge,” Pencil Scratch nervously began as he turned his attention to the cobalt unicorn who was still chuckling heavily. “Might I ask what’s wrong with your profile?”
“I’m a ladies’ stallion that’s bedded a mare in every corridor of the Castle of Two Sisters?! Bwhahahahahahaahahaha!” Forge barely managed to get the words out between the hard laughs that had restarted in earnest. “I’d say a better way to describe me is ‘as queer as a three-bit coin’! Hahahahahahaahah! I’d never even kissed a pony until last year!” Forge then collapsed to the floor as he continued to laugh.
“Right…” Bullets of sweat poured down Pencil’s face as he rubbed the back of his neck. “Good thing I hadn’t started writing in earnest…”
“Indeed,” Swift said as she set the profile down on the coffee table. “Now, before we discuss how to revise this story, I believe we should negotiate licensing rights for our names and likenesses.”
***
After multiple hours with Daring’s knowledge of modern business deals, a healthy contract was drafted for the rights to the privates, Barrier and Fleet’s likenesses, names and stories. The day after, the privates and Fleet were all consulted on how to revise Pencil’s story.
In the end, the privates were rather excited at the thought of not only being in a famed book franchise seen by millions, but also the thought of action figures being made of them.
As Pencil Scratch and Fine Print left the manor after the papers had been signed, the privates waved him goodbye with all but Swift sporting rather large grins on their faces.
“This is gonna be huge!” Hatty exclaimed as Swift gently closed the door. “This’ll not only get us a good deal of bits, but this could even get us put on the silver screen!”
“Eh, I wouldn’t hold my breath if I were you, Hatty,” Daring said as the household started to head towards the living room. “Considering the royalties deal we worked out, plus how little you guys made an impact in the distant past, I get the feeling that they’ll purposely avoid making too many things out of you guys.”
“Ah… you’re probably right,” Hatty replied as he rubbed the back of his head with his wing.
“Well,” Barrier drew everyone’s attention. “with that done, how about I get us something from a restaurant for dinner?”
A round of agreement was the response he received from the rest of the household.
“Alright. I think I’ll swing by the Four D’s and pick something up.” Barrier summoned his saddlebags onto his back from the rack near the door. “Anypony want to come with me?”
“Sure, I think I will,” Daring said as she walked up to Barrier’s side.
“As will I,” Fleet chimed in as she flew up above Barrier and Daring, briefly looking towards her daughter. “Windy, please be good for the privates while we get dinner.”
“No promises,” Windy replied before playfully sticking out her tongue. Fleetfeather only chuckled before she, Barrier and Daring departed.
Once the trio of ponies were onto the streets outside the manor, Daring looked back to her lovers. “Say guys, I never did get to see the profiles that Pencil Scratch wrote. How bad were they?”
“Dreadful.” Fleet rolled her eye as she gently landed beside Daring. “The profile he wrote portrayed me as a secretary that only knew how to file paperwork. I placed fourth in a cadets competition for combative weather skills and have grown greatly since then.”
“Wow, that sucks,” Daring said before patting her on the shoulder and turning to look at Barrier. “How about you?”
Barrier remained silent as he marched along the street.
“Barrier?” Daring gently nudged him with her wing. “C’mon. Tell us.”
The charcoal unicorn sighed before giving the pair a half-lidded look. “I was portrayed as a noble who abused my position of authority to lay with many members of my father’s maid staff, siring at least fifteen bastards that I’d refused to even look at. In addition, I looked down very heavily on the common folk. For icing on that disgusting cake, I was described as a ‘whiskey puking alcoholic’.” Barrier took several deep breaths in an attempt to bleed off his clear annoyance.
“To elaborate a bit more, I never once so much as laid a hoof on any one of my father’s maids and while I might have had an arrogant view of commoners when I was young, my time with Ran Saki taught me how wrong I was. And lastly, while I do enjoy a drink, even at my worst moments, I would say I’ve kept relative control of my drinking, save for two occasions.”
“I can guess what one of those occasions was,” Daring said as she stretched out her left wing and placed it on his back. “Was the other one in the past?”
“Yes,” Barrier quietly replied, lightly shuddering as he recalled that awful night. “It was after the mass funeral was held for the Crystal Empire. I thought the cadets, Fleet, Windy and everypony who went to the empire was dead. Their families were all heartbroken and Verdant’s mother punched me in the face.” Barrier began to withdraw his flask before abandoning the habitual motion with a sigh.
“That night, Ember and I were both feeling terrible.” Barrier swallowed before he continued on. “The two of us drank long and heavily into the night. I ended up waking up three hours late for my shift and was violently sick for the remainder of it.”
“Yikes,” Daring said as Fleet quickly pulled about and made her way to Barrier’s left while she pressed in on the right. “If you ever need to talk about it, we’re here for you.”
“Absolutely,” Fleet agreed before draping a wing on his back and giving him a kiss on the cheek.
“Thank you both,” Barrier smiled before giving each of them a nuzzle. “I appreciate the two of you more than I can express. Suffice to say, that was the start of a rather dark time in my life.”
Barrier took a deep breath. When he exhaled, it almost felt as if heavy weight had been lifted off of his back. “Now, how about we get some boneless wings and potatoes for dinner?”