Everything in Farrierview was finally calm. The fires in the two burning buildings had been extinguished by Starforge and the pegasi of the town, and most of the ponies who had boarded the train had been persuaded to return to their homes. Those few who remained on board said they would sleep a lot better if they spent the night in Canterlot.
He wondered if they would actually manage to get any sleep: nopony around town seemed to plan on it. Everypony had initially gone to their homes; Starforge had first gone to check for more pangutans lurking at the edge of the jungle, then to fix the town's clock when he found none. When he emerged from the clock tower, he saw that he wouldn't have to worry about any more of the apes sneaking into town overnight: many ponies had moved out into the streets, and were speaking to one another in low voices. Lights were also on in many homes.
Their unease was natural, and most of them would probably settle down after another hour or two; eventually they'd be too tired to keep worrying. As for himself, Starforge rested comfortably in his bed. With food in his stomach, and a comfortable mattress underneath him, he had no trouble falling asleep.
Unsure of where his hooves were taking him, he walked down the street. They seemed very confident in their judgment, like they knew exactly where to go. Contentedly, he allowed them to guide him, while he busied himself with looking around. There wasn't much to look at though, and nopony was around to speak to.
It was dark out, or maybe he just couldn't see very well. Either way, his hooves knew the path. Unexpectedly, they increased their pace. Galloping down the street, Starforge could feel a knot forming in his stomach. Something bad was about to happen; he didn't know how he knew it, but the sense was in the air, and it was overwhelming him.
The familiar smell came to him from further down the street: the sweet scent of burning wood, mixed with choking ash. As soon as his mind could make sense of the smell, his hooves stopped their furious sprint down the street. They scraped against the dirt as he skidded to a stop, until finally he was as still as the night around him.
Confused, Starforge took stock of the scene. The buildings to his left and right seemed so dark, and were decidedly nondescript. Behind him, a fog rolled towards him; it dawned on him that he wasn't sure if he had been running through it, or if it had just formed.
With nowhere else to turn, his gaze returned to the direction he had been traveling. He could finally see it: the building ahead of him was burning. Large but nondescript, its appearance didn't suggest what it could be. Whatever its purpose, it had multiple floors and took up a lot of space on the ground.
There was no time for thought: Starforge charged into the building. All around him there were flames, from the floor to the ceiling. It had taken him too long to arrive; he hadn't been fast enough, and he'd be lucky to find anypony in the chaos of the inferno.
Smoke filled his nose, burned his eyes, and irritated his lungs. Involuntarily, he squinted his eyes as they watered; he instinctively coughed, trying to clear his lungs of the soot that was already collecting in them. With a more measured mind, he remembered to crouch low to the ground, where the smoke was thinnest.
From the floor, he could think clearly enough to make a second visual sweep of the room. One doorway ahead of him was relatively clear of flame, so he kept his chest on the ground while he beat his wings to propel him forward.
He slid through the doorway, but the scene inside was much like it was in the entry way. Fire and smoke were everywhere, and there was only one doorway which he could safely make his way towards and enter. He began to slide across the room, staying low so he didn't breathe in too much smoke.
Before he could reach the doorway, however, something large hit him on the back. Confused, and worried that he had been hit by a burning support beam, he tried to stand. As soon as his knees started to flex, something struck him in the back of the head. His face hit the floor, but he wasn't hurt. Instead, he immediately forced his legs up and reared onto his hind hooves.
Behind him, something sounded a THUD as it hit the ground. Without turning back, Starforge bucked onto his front hooves and pulled his hind legs back. Aiming low, he fired his legs away from him with a hammer blow. They impacted soft flesh, and continued to push back.
When he turned to see what he had hit, Starforge wasn't surprised: it was a pangutan, of course. It lay on the ground, either too hurt or simply unwilling to get up. It was clear that the ape was no threat to him at the moment, but Starforge couldn't help but feel as if something he dreaded was still approaching him.
Trying to find what was coming after him, he spun around. When he turned, he saw four more pangutans in the room with him. He stepped back once, then a second time. For a moment the apes stared at him, seeming wary but hesitant to attack. Stepping a defiant hoof forward, Starforge picked the largest of them and stared back into his eye.
The stare-down was interrupted by the sound of a great crash outside. Whatever it was, it was so powerful it shook the floor inside. The pangutans turned away from Starforge, and instead looked through the wall in the direction the crash had come from. It had sounded like a footfall, from something very, very big.
What was stomping around outside? Had his hooves been directing him towards it? They had certainly wanted him at the building, for whatever reason. The pangutans were another mystery. One had attacked him, but the others looked like they had been sheltering inside the building when he came across them. Was whatever the footstep outside belonged to so scary that hiding in a burning building was safer than facing it?
Standing up, no longer concerned with the smoke, Starforge ran past the apes and into the next room. There were windows, so many windows, in the room. But it was hot, so very hot. As quickly as he could, he stepped towards the outer wall. He was no longer sure whether he wanted a look at the monster or just relief from the heat, but if he could just get a window open he could have both.
Looking outside, he could see that the fog had grown. It was so thick that he could not even see the neighboring building, let alone the monster. The heat wasn't going away though, it was getting stronger; Starforge didn't know how much longer he could bear it.
It was so, so hot. His legs felt weak, and his knees buckled. Collapsing down to the ground, he looked up at the window again. Something moved in the fog, towards him. It was large, very large. There was the sound of another large crash outside, and the floor shook.
The hot sun on his face finally woke Starforge up. He groaned as he got up: he had just had another fire dream. It seemed like every time he felt he was close to figuring something out, he would dream of some burning building or another. For whatever reason, his mind had chosen that motif to express its frustration at not knowing something.
Old habits, he supposed. He had done a lot of wondering before, but everything had felt so different after his parents sent him to boarding school in Cloudsdale. Being around so many other pegasi for the first time had been great, but they weren't like he thought they'd be.
Sure, they were a bit more boisterous and prone to daredevil antics, but all in all they acted like the pegasi – and unicorns and earth ponies, really – of Hayton. Even he had felt rowdier thanks to the confines of the school; they never gave him the impression that they would have been much different from the pegasi of Hayton, had he had been able to see them in their own home towns. Of course, he had never gotten that chance—his weekends were spent back home with his parents, not off visiting friends from school he got to see all week.
The normalcy of the other pegasi meant that his excitement when his parents announced their decision to send him away had been unwarranted; it also meant their rationale, that he'd feel more comfortable around normal pegasi and settle down, wouldn't work out either.
He chuckled as he walked up to the room's shades and pulled them shut. At least, he had never managed to find anypony else at the Academy who had flown into a burning building, guided some foals to the exit, then been overcome by smoke after going back in to make sure there weren't anymore.
At the time, he hadn't understood why his parents were so upset that he didn't just wait for the – trained – adult pegasi to take care of it: by his figuring, his actions meant they were only looking for one pony instead of three. The fact that he had enjoyed it, even felt fully alive, shouldn't have mattered to them. The perspective of four years and a couple different towns of residence had allowed him to reflect, though.
He had eventually realized that his parents' reactions to his antics were normal. They had nothing to do with his father being a unicorn, or even with parents being overprotective. Ponies in general just weren't so comfortable with hopping into danger. Any daredevil might have done what he had done in that building, but upon being rescued would probably have admitted what they did was foolish, or at least say they had to try to save somepony. Nopony who did that and passed out in the process would try to explain why it had still been a good idea.
After he moved to Ponyville he befriended Quickwing and Mighty Buck, who told him they had similar experiences. Back when they were younger, before they made it as heroes, nopony understood why they did what they did; after they came to see him as a hero, they said, nopony would care why he did it. Of course, they also warned him that a pony eventually got too old to go running around seeing what sort of trouble he could stop. Once that happened, well, nopony seemed to remember for long.
They still watched out for things – both had built their homes on the side of town bordering the Everfree forest – but their traveling days were over. Still, they had regaled him with tales of their exploits. Two of Equestria's greatest heroes, and probably nopony else in Ponyville even knew: that's what bothered Starforge the most. He looked up to them, at least, so somepony knew all they had done for everypony.
Rather than walk out of the room, he stopped just in front of the door. A sigh escaped from his mouth. Suddenly feeling enervated, he sat on the ground: there was nothing he could have done to train for this. He wished Quickwing was with him; she would know what to do.
For a moment he sat there in the doorway, his eyes closed. The gentle rhythm of his breath was all he let himself focus on, ignoring any worry that tried to creep its way in. He stood up and opened his eyes, feeling as ready as he was going to. Confidently, he grabbed the doorknob and opened the door. Nopony was in the hallway when he left the room, and there wasn't anypony at the front desk either.
Out on the street, however, Starforge could see that life in Farrierview was carrying on. The hotel was downtown, near town hall and many businesses. Many of the shops were still open, and there were a few ponies that looked like they were shopping. The biggest collection of ponies, however, was at the one cafe that was open. Starforge could see the mayor sitting at a table, eating with two ponies who looked like her assistants.
Without any hesitation, Starforge walked up to speak to them. "Good morning, mayor," he said as he approached the table.
"Oh, Starforge," she said, turning to him. "Good morning." She sounded exhausted. A look of realization came to her face, as if remembering her manners, and she motioned with a hoof towards an empty seat at the table. "Join us, please."
Putting on his best confident smile, Starforge sat down at the table. "So," he began. "It looks like it's shaping up to be a good morning." Of course, he didn't mention that it was the evening they had to worry about—the mayor knew that very well.
"Yes," she said with a tired smile. "Everypony seems to have calmed down a lot since last night."
As one of the mayor's assistants rattled off a summary of the damage to the two burned buildings, Starforge ordered something to eat. When his full attention returned to the conversation, he chimed in. "I've got a little bit of carpentry experience," he said. "Have you got many volunteers for that?"
"Enough," the assistant said. He flipped through a small notepad. "If you're any good with a saw, though, I'm sure everypony would appreciate your help gathering the lumber." From the edge of the jungle, of course. Starforge nodded.
"I'd be glad to," he replied. The waiter brought his food to the table, and Starforge began to eat while the mayor and her aides continued discussing matters. They were minor concerns, really: how to reach out to those residents not on the morning train back into town, increased vigilance towards the jungle, keeping community spirit up, and similar things.
Also, there was a sense of worry about the pangutans—that was the reason Starforge was staying in town. The last time the pangutans saw fit to attack the town, they may very well have perceived the ponies' logging as the prelude to the complete destruction of the forest. If a single pony, on his way to a part of the city clearly not inhabited by the apes, could cause such an overreaction...
Starforge quickly finished his breakfast and spoke up. "Has anypony scouted the jungle?" he asked.
The chatty assistant was quick with an answer. "No," he said. Starforge's eyes narrowed—they needed to know what was going on at the jungle edge, at least. The assistant saw his displeasure, and spoke more. "Plenty of ponies are watching the jungle, though," he assured him. "There's no way they'll take us by surprise again."
Starforge nodded again. A passive stance, standing back and watching, would work just as well as more aggressive reconnaissance. There was nothing they could do with any extra warning earned by entering the jungle to scout, and the scouts would be in danger. He knew from experience that the pangutans could make life as difficult for a pegasus as for an earth pony. Still, he wanted to take a look—to reassure himself if nothing else.
Before he could rise from his seat to fly off for the jungle, he caught sight of a group of ponies walking towards the cafe. At the front was an earth pony wearing a uniform, probably for the railway. Beside him was a unicorn, very official looking, wearing a stern expression. Bringing up the rear of the procession were four guard ponies: two pegasi, a unicorn, and an earth pony.
Seeing that something had caught his eye, the other ponies at the table turned to look as well. "Would you look at that," the mayor's second assistant said, relief in her voice. "Celestia sent the Royal Guard."
The procession reached the table, and the uniformed earth pony turned to the mayor. His chest puffed out, he looked like he was just short of saluting. "Mayor Sagebrush," he said, in a voice that sounded like it was deeper than his regular tone of voice. "Inspector Loosesheaf of Canterlot has asked to speak with you."
"Thank you, Mr. Watchclock," the unicorn standing next to him said. "You are dismissed." The earth pony bowed his head and took several steps back from the Inspector before finally turning. He walked slowly away at first, then broke into a quick trot once he was far enough away from the Inspector.
There was no need for his caution: the Inspector never looked his way, even once. Instead, his eyes drilled into everypony at the table. When his attention finally reach Starforge, his head cocked to the left idly. His lips curled into a small smile, though when combined with his penetrating gaze it was anything but pleasant.
"You must be Starforge," he said. His head returned to its upright position, but the smile remained. "Sitting right there with the mayor, not a bit on you." He briefly, and conspicuously, turned his eyes to the empty plate in front of Starforge before looking back at the pegasus.
Starforge's eyes narrowed, and he rose from his seat. The unicorn guard pony lifted his head, but Inspector Loosesheaf didn't acknowledge Starforge's change in posture with anything more emotive than a return to a neutral facial expression.
"Can I help you, Inspector?" Starforge asked. His tone was icy, but the pique was worthless against the Inspector's practiced disinterest.
"Inspector!" the mayor interrupted. A sudden drop of sweat dripped from her forehead, and her lips parted in an unnaturally large smile as she spoke up. "What can I do for you?"
"Your job," Loosesheaf said curtly. "It is Starforge I need to speak to." He turned to look at the mayor directly. "We will be in your office." Before she could raise any objection, he had already turned away from her and started walking towards the town hall. "Come with me," he said to Starforge.
Snorting first, Starforge reluctantly turned to follow him. After he had fallen in behind the Inspector, the guard ponies turned to follow them.
Once he was across the street, Loosesheaf used his horn's magic to open the town hall's door in front of himself. He stepped through it quickly, entering the building just in front of the door as it swung itself shut.
Starforge opened the door and followed the Inspector in. The two pegasi stayed outside, but the earth pony and the unicorn entered after Starforge did. Inside, a worker pointed down a hall for the Inspector. Without a word to Starforge or the two remaining guards, the Inspector turned and walked down the hall.
At the end of the hall, he reached the mayor's office. Again, he used his horn to open the door. He entered the office, then began stepping around the desk. Starforge and the unicorn guard pony followed him in, while the earth pony guard stayed outside.
Inspector Loosesheaf sat behind the mayor's large, wooden desk. He nodded to the unicorn guard, who closed the door and moved to the back of the office. Having the guard pony behind him made him nervous, but Starforge took a seat in front of the desk anyway.
"Now," the Inspector said, readying his pen and notepad. "I already know that you went out into the jungle a few days ago." He looked directly at Starforge. "Tell me everything that happened."
Silence filled the office, occasionally interrupted by Inspector Loosesheaf flipping to a different page in his notebook. The guard hadn't made a sound during Starforge's story, and he was no noisier now that the story was finished.
Too nervous to break the silence himself, Starforge sat and waited. The Inspector hadn't spoken a word while listening to Starforge describe the events in the jungle. Any time he had wished for Starforge to elaborate, or attest to the truth of a fact, he would cock an eyebrow at him. If Starforge had to guess, Loosesheaf was paying at least as much attention to how he reacted to the eyebrows as he was to the rest of the story.
The entire time, his pen was writing on the notepad at a furious pace. Starforge was certain that had he taken an exact transcript of his story. With the incredible speed the pen had been moving at, he may very well have been annotating it with Starforge's body language. He was certain that, at the very least, he had been noting down any concerns he had with the tale.
With a great sweep of his hoof, Loosesheaf finally pushed his notebook to the side. His eyes narrowed, but his expression relaxed at the same time. For the first time, the Inspector looked genuinely curious, rather than regarding everything as purely professional. Teeth clenched, Starforge tilted his head to the right so the Inspector couldn't look directly into his eyes. He didn't know why, but the Inspector's sudden change in demeanor made him feel more nervous, not less.
"I have read your file," Loosesheaf began. "Two years in Cloudsdale Academy, and in both you participated in the Royal Reserve Corps." Those were basic facts, but Starforge didn't see how they mattered. Without thinking, he turned his face directly towards the Inspector again.
"In the Corps, your instructors found you very capable. They stated that you took to the training program very well." He paused before continuing. "In their assessment, you would have made a great guard. But when you graduated from the Academy, you declined to enlist. On your paperwork, you put down your reason as 'Seeking different career'."
The Inspector's expression tensed again—he looked at Starforge accusingly. Under the implied pressure, Starforge leaned his head back, trying to put as much distance between Loosesheaf and himself as possible. As his quarry leaned back, Loosesheaf put a hoof on the desk and leaned forward.
"So I am quite interested to know why, after turning down a career in the Guard, you made it your mission in life to create a set of magical armor for yourself." He pointed his hoof at Starforge for emphasis. "If half of what I heard about how you handled those apes is true, then it is obvious that you have continued training." He then motioned towards his notepad. "Your own testimony implies even more training than the witnesses' did."
None of it should have mattered, but the Inspector clearly thought he was guilty of some crime. Starforge stood up from his seat. His lips curled back, and he briefly snarled at the Inspector before opening his mouth to speak. Before he could object to the Inspector's insinuations, however, Loosesheaf held up a hoof.
"You enjoyed the work then, and you obviously enjoy it now—your entire career as an artificer seems to be dedicated to making you a better fighter." Inspector Loosesheaf relaxed his face again, returning to his curious expression. For his part, Starforge's gaze also softened: no longer angry, he was starting to wonder things himself. "What I want you to answer is this: why does a colt turn his back on the Guard, but dedicate his life to fighting anyway?"
"I..." Starforge stammered. He struggled to come up with something to say. A small smirk came to Loosesheaf's lips, and he sat back in his seat. Following the Inspector's lead, Starforge sat back down in his seat as well. His training, his studies, it was all very deliberate. However, he had never, not even once, stopped to consider why he had chosen the path he walked.
"I don't see how that matters at all," he finally managed to counter. It was true, he couldn't see how his motivations mattered in even the slightest way. However, that wasn't the reason he wanted to avoid the subject. He tried to put on a brave face, but Inspector Loosesheaf was very experienced in seeing past the facades ponies tried to put up. His smirk widened, and he leaned slightly forward in his seat.
"Of course it matters," he said. "Because what you are looking for, is excitement." He pointed his hoof towards Starforge, and continued his accusations. "You thought the Guard was where you would find it, but it was all too stable for you. You realized that there was a whole world of trouble you can stir up out there, without having to worry about anypony else."
"I didn't go out to make any trouble!" Starforge shouted. Loosesheaf's expression changed from satisfied to bemused, like he had heard such an objection before, but he didn't say anything. "I told you exactly what happened: I went out for the hammer, and I got it. They came after me, but I didn't do anything to them. I flew through peacefully, and ran away when they tried to get me."
"You have already admitted to trampling one, attempting to trample a second, and slamming and biting a third." The Inspector leaned even closer to Starforge. "I wonder what else you have not seen fit to tell me."
Indignant, Starforge opened his mouth to object again. Loosesheaf held a hoof up to silence him, and continued. "Do not think that you are the first pony to venture into the jungle," he said with a softer tone. Far less than accusing Starforge, he sounded like he was trying to counsel him. "Plenty of ponies look for adventure when they are young, but not everypony understands the limits implicitly. Sometimes, they need guidance—it is what is best for everypony."
The room was quiet for several seconds, while Starforge mulled the implications of what the Inspector was saying, and the Inspector contentedly allowed him to. Starforge let his breath out of his nostrils, then looked to the floor for a moment before looking back up at Loosesheaf.
"What..." he began. He sighed, then looked the Inspector directly in the eyes. "What exactly are you saying?"
"It is not a bad thing at all, Starforge," Loosesheaf said. For the first time in the conversation, he had an understanding, almost conciliatory tone in his voice. "You are actually quite lucky you were in the Royal Reserve Corps back at school: your instructors' recommendations still stand."
Again, the room was silent. Starforge sank into his seat, weighed down by everything being in the Guard meant to him. It should have been, at the very least, not a bad thing. The Royal Guard stood for everything he believed in: the strength to handle anything, duty to protect ponies from the dangers of the world, and freedom from fear.
Inspector Loosesheaf was right: he had enjoyed his two years in the Royal Reserve Corps. It was the best part of being at Cloudsdale Academy, which itself had been a good experience. The Corps had taught him that there was more to being a hero than bravery, and Starforge was still dedicated to his training even after having been out of the Corps for two years.
It had been a difficult decision not to join the Royal Guard once his schooling ended. He had been very motivated to serve, and his rare skill with magical materials would not have gone to waste: some guard ponies also served as armorers.
But the thought of joining the Guard now, after all he had done, filled him with a sense of failure. Joining did, after all, mean his life would be dedicated to service. There would be little time to practice new, unconventional magical effects if he had to make sure an entire unit's armor was up to standards. He would have precious little time to travel the kingdom, learning what skills various artificers could teach him. Even his time spent patrolling the streets or attending to the Princess would mean he had less time to train his body for a fight.
There was no way Inspector Loosesheaf could force him to enlist. His superiors would be the ones to decide on Starforge's fate, if he could even convince them that there was cause for concern. Should they consider him likely to endanger other ponies, the most they would do would be a travel restriction. Since there was little trouble he could get up to in the cities – where the master artificers who taught him lived – he could easily continue his craft.
It meant, however, that he would no longer be allowed to travel to any trouble spots. Ponyville, with the Everfree forest, would very likely be on the list of places he could not visit—they would almost certainly make him choose somewhere else to relocate to.
No trouble spots. No Ponyville, and no danger. Free to keep his armor, but kept away from the monsters it was meant to protect ponies from. A peaceful life, dedicated to his craft. Starforge could easily become a distinguished artificer, and accomplish his dream.
He closed his eyes and sighed. The Inspector's words repeated themselves in his head: "What is best for everypony."
The gentle rustle of a paper being set down on the desk snapped Starforge's attention back to the room. Still wearing that same understanding face, Inspector Loosesheaf telekinetically picked up a pen and floated it towards Starforge.
Starforge grabbed the pen in his right hoof and leaned forward towards the desk. Enlistment papers—the Inspector had planned ahead. Gulping, Starforge started to fill out the form. Name. Parents. Town and date of birth. Mane, coat, and eye colors. Type. Address.
Signature. That was the difficult part. He rested his pen on the paper for a moment. Reluctantly, he admitted to himself that it was the best thing for everypony. Finally, he signed the form. Date. Not so hard, after signing his name on the form. Witnesses. His part was done, so he set the pen down and slid the paper towards Loosesheaf.
The Inspector wasted no time in signing the paper, writing his name with a stroke as efficient as it seemed he did everything. He turned the paper back around and pushed it to the edge of the desk again, but his attention was directed to the guard in the back.
"Sergeant," he said. The sound of a pony's voice suddenly seemed very loud to Starforge, and he cringed as he heard it booming in his ears. "If you will." Starforge sat with his eyes closed, but he could still hear as the unicorn approached the desk. The sound of pen against paper was unmistakeable, as was the sound of the pen being set back down on the desk.
When his eyes opened again, he saw the enlistment form in front of the Inspector. Loosesheaf was placing a second form on top of it. Judging from the large amount of empty space for writing, and how much was written in it, Starforge guessed it to be a short-form report of some sort, likely an explanation for the circumstances of the enlistment. With a loud CLICK, the Inspector stapled the two forms together.
"There." His mission accomplished, his face returned to its practiced disinterest. He slid the stapled forms into his bag, and walked out from behind the desk. The unicorn guard opened the door for him. Without any ceremony, the two left Starforge alone in the mayor's office.