Twilight and her friends shuffled awkwardly into the narrow space, lines upon lines of armor pieces lining the walls and ceiling. From the back of the hallway came a soft orange glow, which intensified as an aura of magic lifted a ball of molten metal from the forge and placed it in a tray.
"Princess, Elements." A gruff voice called, a pony emerging from the armor and smoke. "I assume you have heard of your goal?"
Twilight looked him up at down; a thestral stallion with a long burn down his right cheek. His wings were currently wrapped under a series of gritty bandages, the basic safety protocol for Pegasi working with molten metal. His coat looked rather navy, but that could have been the soot.
"My name's Carbon, and that pony back there's Liquid Steel." The pony grunted a greeting. "Now, one of you step ahead so we'll have room to fit you."
Rainbow shoved ahead, spreading her wings and filling the small space.
The thestral grinned. "Didn't doubt you'd be first. Steel, toss me some armor!"
A red halo surrounded many small pieces of metal and drifted over, circling slowly around the batpony. He pulled a curved shell out of the spiral, using his wingtips to place it over Rainbow's forehead and pull her mane through the back. "Hey now, how's that?"
Rainbow lifted her head. The dark metal glinted over her face, and the helm ran from the back of her head to her nose. A short rim ran around the front half of the eye-holes, deflecting attacks away from one of her most vulnerable places. A similar sheath ran up along the sides of her ears, but it was attached more to the base of her ear than it was to the helmet. As she flicked her ears around, the metal covers spun along with them.
"Fits great," she chirped, grinning. "Although, I may need to change the color. navy isn't really my style."
Carbon smirked, picking out another piece from the levitating collection and holding it up against her wings. "Once we are sure it fits correctly, I will be giving it a final flame for color and shine, as all Nocturne forgers are trained to do." He looked up, the flames from the forge behind him dancing in his golden irises. "And I have a question for you five and your thestral Princess."
Twilight stepped around Rainbow, bowing down to look the batpony in the eyes. "Yes?"
He opened his wings and bowed, folding a forehoof over his heart. "I wish to join you on your adventure."
Silence fell. Steel hissed softly as he spilled a streak of molten metal over the side of the template.
Twilight regained her composure, shaking her head. "It's much too dangerous."
"And it will be dangerous here too if you fail." He stated, resting a piece of metal on Rainbow's back as he roughly measured another one against her chest.
Twilight noticed Rainbow's hooves shuffling. She was never really the patient type, and Carbon had been taking his sweet time. "I can't risk your life on this mission."
"You won't be risking my life, thestral Princess. I'll be risking my own."
"I couldn't."
The batpony pushed his hooves against Rainbow's upper shoulder, and the metal pieces he had placed clicked together as the flesh moved. "The question was not whether you will risk my life, Princess. The question is whether or not you will allow me to accompany you."
Rainbow arched her back, stretching out her wings. The metal plates shifted and spun like a dragon's scales, keeping a sturdy shield between the outer air and her vital organs. The bands themselves wrapped across her chest, wove around her front legs, and followed her sternum to her gut. A series of ridges ran over the softer skin of her lower belly, up to her legs.
"Wow." The once-Pegasus muttered, bending her head around to look at the subtle detailing. "How long did this take?"
"Steel wouldn't say." The batpony tossed his head, glancing back towards the shadowed pony. "Doesn't like the attention, but I figure 'e fancies you girls. You're lucky, going off to make names for yourselves."
He placed another piece of metal over Rainbow's rump, covering her flanks with a single, unbroken sheet.
"Most of us don't get that chance." He mused, wrapping the first of four scale-patterned boots around Rainbow's hooves, sliding the clasps shut. He looked up with a grin. "Most of us get to stay in a basement forge and make decorative armor for an honor guard."
Twilight watched as the last piece of Rainbow's armor slid into place, shingles and chain mail making her look more like a pony in a dragon's skin than a mix of the two. Her eyes glinted between a pair of dark slats, and her wings were cupped and edged with a series of spines and sheaths. Her front hooves were hidden behind a set of blunt claws, raised as if to slice down at a moment's notice. Her hind hooves were raised slightly at the back by a pair of sharp spurs, mimicked in threes on the front of the hooves. Her helmet was covered in raised spikes as well, spears that lifted from her crest and continued down her neck plates.
She turned to face her, and for a brief moment, Rainbow Dash was nothing but a faded memory behind a dragon's scales.
"Brilliant." She whispered in awe. "What... what is it made of?"
"A titanium and moonstone alloy. Titanium for strength and lightness, and moonstone for heat resistance." Carbon stepped back, admiring the work. "The finish for it will be a mixture of crystal and pearl to refract like your wing scales do, essentially turning the whiteness into a faded rainbow. It will be a spectacular feat in the daytime. Twilight, you're next. Rainbow, if you could just tilt your head like so, the clips will undo and it'll come right off. No, no, don't put it on the floor!"
Twilight stepped up, standing stoically in front of him. He turned to Steel's shadowed form, catching a piece of armor mid-flight.
"I would like to tell you something about thestrals." He stated, pressing a piece of cold metal to her shoulder. "We have long been a silent race, left no land or honor. We have stolen, lied and killed under the shadow of our lost Princess's shining moon. It was a long time ago that we were created, ripped from the very womb of darkness and given form to serve as Her wicked army."
He frowned, tossing a piece of metal to the side and putting a different one in it's place. "She was no kind mistress, but Luna does little to bear in her stead. She did not wish to rule us, but her sister told us to remain. After all, we were never Luna's. We were Hers, and She was gone."
Her back chilled suddenly as the metal plates along it slid into place. The batpony's eyes glinted in the corners of her vision.
"And then a third Princess came, but she was nothing like She had been. She was prim and proper, and could not set herself in shoes that had once glinted with blood and malice. She left for the ponies who had been found and lost, not the ones that had never been found at all." A band slipped around her belly. "Imagine the elation of our lost cause when such a Princess was created. One that had been ordinary and powerful, and crippled down to nothing. Imagine how we felt, as one, when she returned from death itself."
He stepped back, a set of armors Twilight knew very well still hovering behind him.
"In you, we saw Her. And our undying loyalty of a thousand mournful years will not be lost upon you."
He pulled the Regalia from the air, dim firelight glinting off of blue moonsteel. Moonsteel; indestructible and unforgettable. He bowed again, holding the armor ahead of him on outspread wings.
"Will you take Nightmare Moon's place and take the thestral under your wings?"
Twilight stared at the armor. Despite it's notoriety as completely unchangeable, small ridges had been added to deflect attacks away from her wings, belly and eyes, and short spikes lined the outer edge of every opening. As the light changed, she noticed it had darkened to the same shade as her mane, like a living extension of herself. Her breath caught in her throat.
"Steel. Please come here."
The shadow jerked, and molten light sprayed across the ground. Firelight glinted where eyes should have shone.
"Steel, please."
The shadow shifted, hobbling into the light.
Whatever she had been expecting, this was not it. This was a mare, not a stallion, and her mane had been near-shaved to create a dark, asymmetrical stain across her forehead and neck. Her tail was cropped short, and her sides were covered in bandages that mimicked those of the forging Pegasi, except they wrapped down half of her forelegs. Her head was tilted back with a defiant glare, and a thin band of burgundy scales ran over her tan forehead.
"Steel, can you take off your bandages?" Twilight prompted, kneeling down. "Please?"
The mare's eyes widened and she shook her head quickly, backing up into the shadows. Carbon backed up alongside her, placing a wing on her back. He muttered something in a language Twilight didn't know, although the clicks and gentle whimpers made her imagine it was a thestral language.
Carbon glanced up at Twilight. "She wishes to do so only in your company."
Twilight nodded. "Girls, can you wait upstairs?"
They shuffled out, exchanging glances and frowning. Twilight waited until they were far up the stairs before shutting the heavy door. Steel frowned down at her bandages before lying down on her belly, gripping an edge in her teeth and pulling gently.
The whole strip unraveled, hanging loosely around her leg. She grit her teeth and pulled it off, exposing the upper half of her forelimbs.
Where Carbon's wings had been fully developed, Steel's were stretched down over her front legs, wrapping around them like a forced embrace. Her wings extended as nothing but fin from the back of her shoulders, but she didn't falter her steady gaze. She was not ashamed, and it showed.
Twilight met her gaze. "Where did you come from? You're not pure thestral, are you?"
Carbon rested a wing over her back. "Our clan adopted her as a filly. We have grown up as siblings."
"Do you know where she's from?"
"There's only one place where Lost Hearts come from." He snorted. "Pony settlements in Dragon Holds."
Twilight stared at the scales and fur with a whole new awe. "You mean...?"
Carbon nodded. "She is the same as you. Half-dragon, half-pony. She is a refugee from the Southern Holds, which are now in danger."
Steel nodded, opening her mouth as if to speak before closing it again. The inside of her mouth had glinted with shimmering scales.
"You must understand, thestral Princess, that when I follow you to Holdlands, that I only go because the one I love the most cannot."