The days rolled by slowly but were quite productive for everypony. Jasper, though still out of his element, maintained a sort of serenity during his stay. Surprisingly he seemed to be more cheerful and a tad more open with the six mares of whom he called friends. The party which Pinkie had organized for him also showed many of the ponies in Ponyville who had been wary of the stranger that he was not one to be feared. Quite the opposite in fact, many ponies began to warm up to him. The party was indeed a big eye opener for all of them, Pinkie Pie and Rarity even gave Jasper some presents for his troubles.
“Well here it is darling,” Rarity levitated the package covered in white paper over to him, “It’s not much, but in my opinion I think it suits you.”
Jasper then opened the package and beheld a zip up black coat that would reach just above his ankles. It even had a hood attached to it in case of extreme weather conditions which he nodded at.
Applejack nudged him, “Well go on, and try it on.”
Jasper shrugged and complied. He had to admit, he looked pretty good in it. The coat itself seemed to be made out of a durable yet light material.
Jasper looked with surprise at the unicorn mare, “No one’s really given me something like this before…thank you.”
Rarity waved her hoof in a casual manner, “Oh it was nothing.”
Pinkie Pie then shoved a package in his face which rattled around. He opened it slowly as Pinkie Pie smiled wider. Within were a series of manually altered tools, his eyebrows rocketed upwards in surprise and a small smile spread across his face.
Pinkie Pie leaned against a chair as a small blue jay landed on her mane, “A little birdy told me that you were going to take up metal working as a hobby so I decided to buy you the tools,” she fed the bird atop her head, “Auntie Pinkie knows what ponies want.”
Jasper sort of tuned her out and slowly shut the box.
*
Sombra gazed around the bleak tundra unimpressed. He had once more been exiled from his kingdom and once more had been humiliated. No more, he was tired of being denied his rightful place upon a throne. He smiled sinisterly; there was after all, more than one throne. He transformed into a minor smoke blob and slithered off as a chilling laugh echoed on the wind.
*
Jasper sat in a small room in Twilight’s basement under the light of a small lantern as he toiled away at his project. Lying beside him were three books, one read, ‘Metal Ores & You’. The other book was titled, ‘Equestrian Alchemy: Advanced unabridged guide’. The final book was an odd one to say the least, Twilight herself expressed great confusion at lending it out.
-One Day Earlier-
Twilight gazed at the book levitating in front of her, “Why in Equestria do you want this? You can’t do magic?”
Jasper smiled, “True. But frankly I actually find it fascinating.”
The book was titled, ‘Archanus Magnum: Compendium of Ancient Magic’.
Twilight smiled at Jaspers response, “Alright, but please give it back when you’re done with it. It’s supposed to be my final magical book to study when...,” her ears flattened slightly, “get that far.”
Jasper nodded as the book landed in his hands.
*
At the moment he was now in Twilight’s lab consulting the alchemy book as he poured beakers upon beakers into each other. A gasp alerted him to Twilight standing atop the stairs staring at him. She bolted down the stairs and magically prepared to take the beakers.
“JASPER THAT’S VERY DANGEROUS TO MIX-“
Jasper cut her off as he poured the mixture onto his finger causing Twilight to scream.
He then raised his hand to reveal it was coated in jointed armor plating, “Relax,” the regular metal then slowly morphed into gold, “I was just experimenting.”
Twilight then got a massive smile on her face, “That’s amazing! You turned the metal to gold! Every time I try it always become foals gold.”
Jasper shrugged as he picked up the vial, “Meh, it’s no big deal.”
Twilight teleported in front of him, “But it is,” she pointed with her hoof at the metal, “gold is actually pretty…dangerous her.”
Jasper raised an eyebrow, “Seriously?”
Twilight nodded slowly, “Gold on its own is fairly reasonable, it’s relatively harmless. But refined and altered like you’re doing gold can be deadly. When used as a weapon it can cut through magical barriers like a hot knife through butter.”
Jasper looked to the side, “But what about bits? Aren’t they made of gold?”
Twilight shook her head, “Foals gold, it’s still valuable though.”
Jasper snapped his fingers, “Is that why the guards under Celestia’s employ wear gold and use gold weaponry?”
Twilight nodded, “Exactly.”
Jasper scratched his chin, “Well that explains a lot I guess.”
Twilight turned to leave, “Don’t be up to late,” she halted, “Oh yeah I forgot the whole reason I came down here. Rainbow Dash wanted to know if you wanted to tag along with the rest of the girls to go on a camping trip in two days to Rainbow Falls.”
Jasper thought for a moment, “Sure.”
Twilight squeed as she left.
-Several Hours Later-
Jasper sat on a chair in his small room in the basement and rotated his wrist. Covering his right hand was a golden armor glove. A small screwdriver was pressed against a slot and it was being tightened and untightened rhythmically with each rotation of his wrist. On the top of his hand dead center was a hole with a black fabric lining. With his other hand he flipped through the Archanus Magnum until he came across an entry which caused him to raise an eyebrow, ‘The Gem of Ages’.
*
Princess Celestia opened her eyes in her bed and sat up suddenly. She glanced around frantically and rushed out into the hallway forgetting her royal adornments. Several guards averted their eyes and blushed heavily while a night guard paid a day guard forty bits at her sudden passing. Celestia burst into the darkened throne room.
Luna’s face reddened, “Sister cover thyself.”
Celestia ignored the comment, “Luna I bring grave news.”
“What is it?”
Celestia steeled herself, “He has returned.”
Luna raised an eyebrow, “Could thou be more specific?”
Celestia nodded, “Sombra, I sensed his aura manifest. It’s slowly moving toward Ponyville. Though I am unsure when he might arrive, we must make the appropriate counter measures immediately.”
Luna nodded with a stern expression.