//------------------------------// // Wealth is more than just gold // Story: DiE: Glarin Ungard the Berserker // by InsaneJustin //------------------------------// Spike found out later that he wasn’t the only one that lost and was sent to the hospital. Apparently whoever choose to fight with Mr. Biggles wasn’t getting away un-injured. He had already lost to a child so he had to prove just how strong she was, by beating every adult that challenged him. Rocky was next to him in the hospital while a griffin was reading a book next to him. It was weeks before one of the guards finally beat Henry without sustaining too many injuries. Mr. Biggles was still the reigning champ under Spatzi, and Glarin hadn’t used the sparring ring once since his match with Henry, as he was busy establishing the last shrine. Many of the ponies had been able to remove their fears away while sparring. Once they realized the chance of death was rather low with the rules set into place. All they had to worry about was getting some broken bones and dislocations, maybe a concussion or two. Followed by a small vacation in the hospital with some smoking hot nurses. Sure Twilights enchantments stopped the damage, but they didn’t stop the overall force of the attack. Mr. Biggles proved it when he smashed Rocky into the ground using the same dive he tried to hit Spatzi with. Anyway, Glarin was busy trying to figure out where all the noise was coming from. For the past few days he’s been hearing heavy drum beats and other sounds he couldn’t quite figure out. He ended up enlisting the help of two guards when it began to frustrate him to no end. “Where’s that blasted sound coming from?” asked Glarin as he turned another corner trying to find the source of the sounds. “I think its coming from the private bedrooms, Sir.” Glarin made his way to toward the private bedrooms and sure enough the sound was getting louder until they stood in front of Spatzi’s door. “Is she making all this noise?” Now that the sounds weren’t reverberating down the hallways Glarin could hear the sounds better. He realized it was some kind of Foreign music. He could identify the drum beats, and what sounded like singing of some kind. There was also another voice that seemed to be singing just behind the main female voice. There was only a single male voice and it was deep and angry sounding. “When did she invite guests over?” “Um, Sir. I think that Spatzi may be listening to music on that new record player she got a few days ago.” “Record Player? How does one play a stone record?” The guards were befuddled by the thought of a stone record and how terrible it would sound. This pause in their thought process caused Glarins thoughts to roam freely. “Its not hitting that Stone record against my masterfully crafted floor or walls is it?!” The guards still unable to find words simply shook their heads no as quickly as possible. “Sir, its only music, and its not made of stone its made of Vinyl.” “Vinyl? That pony with such a pale yellow coat it looks white? How does she turn part of her body into music machines? Is it magic?” Deciding that explaining any further would be a waste of their time, they decided to go with it. After all, they had chairs that needed to be sat in. “Sir, its just harmless music, and yes its all created by very magical magics that would take too much time to explain.” Glarin nodded his head not wanting anything to do with magic at the moment. After all, he would never find a use for it. “But still, this is what you consider music?” Glarin continued to listen for a bit longer. “Its kind of catchy I admit, but what is this magic toy that the monkey boy has? And why does it make her go uahaha-uaha? This music has a confusing story in it.” Glarin looked over at the heavily armored ponies and they shrugged in response. “Its just music Sir, I don’t think it really has a purpose other than to sound catchy and probably paint some kind of story.” Glarin nodded his head and walked up to the door. “Alright, lets peek in and see whats going on.” The guards all looked between each other and shrugged again. Glarin slowly opened the door to Spatzis room and they all peeked in through the crack to see what was going on exactly. Spatzi was dancing and singing. At least that’s what it looked like she was doing. Glarin wasn’t sure if bending your knees while singing was considered dancing. Or, whatever it was she was doing at the moment. The guards were also peaking in, one below Glarin and the other looking in from above Glarins head. They continued to watch. It was rather funny to see how into it she was. She was clearly out of breath yet she kept going. Tongue out of her mouth and everything. It wasn’t until the song came to a close did Spatzi glance over at her door and see them looking at her. “GET OUT! GET OUT! GEET OOUT!” She screamed in a high pitched voice as she ran over to slam the door closed. Glarin let loose a hearty laugh as they narrowly escaped decapitation from the door swinging shut. “Let her know to keep the music lower. Its shaking the whole place and disturbing me, and probably others.” Glarin began to walk away and started chuckling to himself again. “But she needs to keep dancing!” He let loose another roar of a laugh as he turned the corner. The guards turned to face each other and shrugged at each other before turning to face the door again. The music had stopped playing. They saw Spatzi looking at them from the doorway. “W-was my dancing that bad?” They shook their heads quickly before speaking. “Oh no! I thought it was magnificent. What about you Merv?” Merv nodded his head in agreement. “Indeed. You show much energy in your performance. I started bobbing my head in tune with you.” “R-really?” The guards nodded their heads yes in agreement once more causing Spatzi to smile as she blushed. She nodded her head in thanks and closed the door again. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Glarin had to find out if his shrines were made properly and satisfactory to them. He would need to make offerings at each one and see if they were accepted or not. He just needed to do a bit of shopping, and then a bit of black smithing done as well. The only problem would be the blood of his enemies since his last offering... He hadn’t collected any since he arrived and the bit of goblin blood he did have was at his old home and had probably gone stale by now. Hopefully more of his blood would suffice... He’ll need to increase his iron intake for the next few days. And he would need to find another big source of income if he ever hoped to appease Berronar. It had been months since he made any proper offerings to any of them. He should be able to fashion a pair of silver rings for Berronar’s holy symbol with some silver from his own vault. Berronar only accepted things that were rightfully yours to begin with, as true offerings. He couldn’t just use the money Princess Celesta has given him for his “work” in Equestria. Unless he used all of it... With a quick trip to the market and the smithy that had been doing very well recently, thanks to Glarin. He had most of everything he needed for now. The smithy, that used to be old and mostly shutdown, was now bustling with several workers. It was also expanded twice over since Glarin showed up. When word got around that a pony was being taught secret smithing techniques, by Glarin. Many smiths from all over traveled far and wide to try and learn from Glarin as well as help with any work he needed done in exchange for the knowledge behind Dwarven Steel. You see the difference between Equestrian steel and Dwarven steel, was that Equestrian steel wasn’t properly made. When tested against Glarins Dwarven steel, it paled in comparison. The moment Glarin used a newly finished axe to chop though the “new” Equestrian steel anvil that had come in. They knew Equestrian steel was horribly weaker, and that Glarin was absurdly strong. When Twilight had published a report about it to the princesses it quickly spread to the newspapers. Celestia had decided to let all of Equestria know of the Dwarven Steel, that she later renamed. Twilight had sent a small block made of the metal with the letter in case Celestia wanted to see for herself. Celestia told the papers to write something about their newest Knight, and that he was sharing the secret knowledge of his mighty people about what she called “Dragon Scale Steel”. Celestia had responded to Twilight and even wrote a letter to Glarin about what she intended to do, She even sponsored the smithy and was directly responsible for its increase in size. Glarin couldn’t read the letter and promptly threw it away, smiling to himself humming and glad he couldn’t read equestrian. His life would stay simple this way. Well, unless the letter contained important information. Once this thought crossed his mind he dug it out of the garbage and had a guard read it for him. He threw it away again. Once Glarin had all of the pig iron, limestone and the iron ore he needed, he began to use his special made Open-hearth furnace. Just like the one his pops had. And began to start the long process of converting it into the first stage of Dwarven Steel. As he was pumping the Billows in his “little” smithy Spatzi walked in. She had been looking for him for quite some time now. “Um, Sir?” Glarin furrowed his brow as he looked over at her. “What’s wrong? That’s the first time you’ve called me Sir.” She was playing with her hair as she watched him pump air into the furnace using the giant four chambered bellow. She no longer had short hair like a boy, it was gradually getting longer. “Well, I was wondering if you could show me how to, how to, well, do what you’re doing.” Glarin looked back at the open hearth furnace then to her. “You wanna learn how to make Dwarven Steel Lass?” “Not just make it! I wanna mold it too! I’ve seen the stuff you make, and its pretty. I wanna make pretty things too, Like those two silver rings you made for Berronar! ” Glarin just hummed to himself as he continued to pump air into the furnace. “I only know the basics, and you might not take to smithing very well.” Spatzi fluffed up her mane. “Is it because I’m a girl?! I can do...” Glarin cut her off “Oye! I said you might not take to it is because you’re not a dwarf. I’ve seen loads of female smiths and they were just as good if not better than their male counterparts. But they were dwarves. I’ve never seen a female human or elven smith. Bending and carving wood is not the same!” Glarin cleared his throat. “I’ll teach you everything I know, We’ll just see if you enjoy it or not.” Spatzi calmed down a bit and smiled. “We’ll have to start now as I just started the purifying process, I’ll explain everything I’m doing and why. Alright?” Spatzi nodded her head and ran up closer eager to learn. Over the next two weeks Glarin showed Spatzi the ins and outs of smithing and smelting. Just the basic knowledge that every dwarf was taught at a young age. Yet basic Dwarven knowledge was vastly superior to any knowledge of metal work this realm had ever seen. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Glarin was unable to perform any of the rituals 100% properly because he was a single dwarf, and without any Clergy he wasnt sure if the shrines would even work. But he knew how to perform every single right, and he wasn’t about to insult any of them by posing as a clergy member. Moradin was pleased with the offering and upon ending the ceremony, Moradin showed his pleasure at the new shrine by having his symbol appear on the anvil as the sacred hammer lowered itself on the sacred anvil. Everyone that went was amazed to see magic, without a unicorn doing it. The wall of fire that appeared near the entrance once the ceremony was complete scared them all into thinking they were trapped, and they thought Glarin would burn his hand the moment he reached into the forge. It was a long process, Yet, everyone that went was simply in awe at what they were seeing. Glarin was using his bare hand to reach into a forge and pick up hot steel, silver, and gold that he melted himself, and then preceded to mold it. He used his left forearm to flatten out the red-hot metals as he shaped them into various objects. Like a mini anvil or other small items that could be used to decorate the shrine. Glarin explained that Moradin prevents harm to the truly faithful, allowing them to perform such feats in his honor in times of worship. Pleasing Moradin was the first, of many rituals that had to be done to ensure his shrines were properly cared for. When the ritual ended and Glarin explained that the fire wouldn’t harm them, they were able to leave and then spread the tales of Glarins gods. Of course he still had 3 more to appease, and Berronar was next. Berronar was a simple Deity to please, all she asked for was an offering of silver in the form of coins, jewelry and other items made from silver once a year. But Glarin had already made his yearly offering. He would simply need to make an offering of most of his wealth in order to appease her for his long absence and lack of prayer the last few months. “Are you gonna help me carry everything to Berronars shrine or not Lass?” Glarin looked over his shoulder at Spatzi who wanted to see more of what Glarins deities could do. “You know, when you said you wanted some help. I didn’t think I was going to be hauling all the bits in the treasury...” Spatzi was pulling a small cart behind her filled with sacks. “You don’t have all of it lass, just most of it. Besides you’re the one with the cart.” Spatzi rolled her eyes. “Whatever, old fart...” She continued to do her best at pulling the cart behind her as they neared the shrine of Berronar. Once they were inside Glarin proceeded to strategically place all of his wealth upon the large stone altar. As Spatzi watched Glarin place all of the bits on the stone alter, she looked around. The floor was covered with a lush carpet of moss and lichen that Glarin had spent days gathering himself. She didn’t understand why the floor had to be covered with the stuff. And he insisted that only he could gather and place it. To do otherwise would either anger her or she would simply ignore the shrine altogether. After Glarin placed everything in the proper position, He walked back next to Spatzi and kneeled before the altar. Having heard of what Moradins was like, she assumed something similar would happen. She kneeled down best she could and sat silently next to Glarin as he whispered prayers. After a few minutes, Spatzi opened her eyes and looked around for a bit. She silently gasped as she shut her eyes again. The altar was glowing brightly. And Spatzi was unsure of what she should be doing as Glarin didn’t explain anything to her. So she kept her eyes closed, until she felt another presence in the room with her. Spatzi cracked open her eyes to see a ghostly figure clad in heavy armor and long flowing hair whispering in Glarins ear as he kept his eyes closed. When the ghostly figure was done she looked over at Spatzi and smiled. A light began to surround her as small plants grew out of the ground around her and began to blossom with white flowers, filling the air with a sweet scent that made her feel safe. Spatzi looked back at the ghostly figure and she slowly faded from view with the gentle smile on her face still. Spatzi was too awestruck to do anything other than sit in the middle of the patch of flowers that sprung up around her. Glarin stood up and looked over at Spatzi and smiled as well. “The Reverd Mother smiled upon you and granted you her protection. As for me, I need to tell those guards which direction to dig now. Berronar told me which direction to dig for the mine.” “Wait, you asked her where to find wealth?” Spatzi looked at Glarin suspiciously. “Not just any wealth Lass, The wealth of the dwarves that were here before me!” Glarin paused for a moment. “Well, Berronar has different views of wealth. Perhaps she is simply showing us the path that leads to a wealth of knowledge.” Glarin shook his head for a moment before looking back to Spatzi. “The revered Mother always looks after her little dwarves and their allies, she also tells us of forgotten history and treasures she wants to be found again.” “And she told you where to look?” “Aye, North East. I’ll need to let them know to start digging in that direction.” Spatzi huffed and looked over at the alter, all of the Bits Glarin placed on it were gone. “Hey! What happened to all the money?!” “Hrm? Well, Berronar takes the offerings she gets and distributes it to the pure of heart dwarves who are in desperate need of it...” Glarin continued to think about it for a minute. “But I’m the only Dwarf in this realm... will she give it to some pony?” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “Daddy, I’m still hungry.” Hard Tack looked down at the youngest of his four children. She looked up at him with those big eyes that children have when they try to get more than they were given to begin with. “Oh, did you want some more my little Pumpernickel?” She nodded her head with enthusiasm as he picked up his helping of bread and handed it to her. “Make sure you share it with your brother and sisters.” Pumpernickel nodded her head yes and ran off with it to share. Hard Tack was a simple earth pony Baker, that had two other jobs. He was doing his best to keep his family happy. And if that meant going to bed a little hungry, then he would go to bed hungry. He was having trouble keeping his family well provided for. After his wife fell ill, he did all he could to afford treatment and pay all of the medical bills. Between paying for rent, food, and the hospital bill. He was running on his last legs now. He was going to have to cut the food budget again. He would rather go hungry than let his children miss a meal, and he would die of exhaustion before he let his loving wife Teacake be denied the best treatment he could afford. Even though life was hard now, he knew it would get better. The doctors told him only a few more treatments and she would be better. But he wasn’t sure how much longer he could keep this up and not keel over himself. As he readied himself for his 3rd job a white radiance filled his bedroom. He closed his eyes as the light filled the room. When it died down he looked to the bed and couldn’t see the bed anymore... It was just a large pile of bits. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After Glarin told them which direction to dig, it was only a matter of time now. The first few days Glarin helped them dig, in-between establishing the rest of the shrines of course. After the 4th day Glarin was called else were. Apparently the ponies in ponyville thought he was some kind of lawman that was there to help them settle disputes and anything that might be criminal related. “She took a bite out of my Cupcake, and I want it back!” Glarin just looked at the pink pony known as Pinkie in slight confusion. “How is she supposed to give back something she ate?” Pinkie demonstrated how it would be done, by taking a bite, then promptly putting it back as if nothing had happened in the first place. Glarin inspected the cupcake and couldn’t even see the bite mark that was visible no more than a few seconds ago. “I told you Pinkie, I just wanted a nibble. I didn’t think you would get so bent outta shape about it. And I can’t put it back like you just did. I don’t even know how.” Glarin grumbled to himself as Pinkie demanded back a piece of cupcake that Rainbow Dash had taken when Pinkie wasn’t looking. “How about, you just give her the cost of the cupcake and be done with this? Do you really need the bit of cupcake she already ate?” “YES! It was the most tasty cupcake ever made and you can’t put a price on perfection!” This little argument went on for about 15 minutes. Glarin who had enough of their babbling about some sweet treat, decided to grab the cupcake and eat it. At which point Pinkie and Rainbow both looked at Glarin with wide surprised expressions on their faces. “No cupcake, no problem...” Glarin was cut off by Pinkie who tackled him to the ground trying to open his mouth. “NOO! Give it back!” shouted Pinkie as she wrestled him to the ground. Rainbow jumped in for good measure. Glarin had no idea the pink one was so strong. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “What do you think Berronar told Glarin he would find?” Rocky shrugged as he kept mining away at the rock. “Spatzi said something about wealth. But it might not be money. Considering the word wealth has multiple meanings.” “Of course wealth means money. Once we find it, we probably won't have to go find our own food anymore...” After his offering to Berronar, Glarin had been mostly broke. He decided to cut down on the food bill. And the guards were getting the short end of the stick. “Just cause I’m male doesn’t mean I like giving up my food to others!” Rocky shook his head. “Not just because we’re male, but because and I quote, ‘We are warriors! And we can skip a few meals and be fine.’ Not that I enjoy skipping lunch so that one of those mares can have some extra dandelions.” As Rocky struck the rock once more, it made a hollow sound. “Did you guys hear that?” Rocky and the others began to dig more at the spot that sounded like it was hollow. With a few more strikes from the pick axe, the wall collapsed and gave way to a cave. They all looked at each other, happy that their days of digging were probably over. “What do you suppose we uncovered?” Rocky, Ace, and Shifty both looked at each other before looking into the darkness again. “Wait, is that a light over there?” Shifty pointed to the back of the cave. “I don’t know, yer the one with night eyes Shifty.” “Yeah, there’s some light up there too. Actually, there’s a bits of light everywhere, I wonder if its some kind of glowing fungus?” “Should we explore it? Or get Glarin first?” they looked at each other for a bit. Before Ace pulled out a bunch of sticks. “Whoever gets the longest stick has to go back and get Glarin." “Isn’t it the shortest stick?” Said Rocky as he watched Ace pull the bundle of sticks from his pack. “My sticks my rules.” As they all picked out Sticks, Ace was the one with the longest stick. “Damnit, just my luck...” Ace began to head back in search of Glarin as Rocky and Shifty both peered down into the dimly lit cave. “Shall we do a bit of exploration?” As Shifty thought of it they both perked up their ears at a voice they hadn’t heard before. It sounded like a small dog. “Yip yip yip! Nàmhaid! Nàmhaid!” Then the sounds of padded footsteps were heard. It sounded like it was running away.