//------------------------------//
// Chapter 5: Test Results 
// Story: Lost Magic And Betrayal 
// by Politicalunrest2400 
//------------------------------//

	Nights-shade’s hammer came down again, another perfect strike on the spear head. Today was different than most days, he was assigned to work on the weapons rather than armor. It was much slower work, but the precision and skill involved kept him focused and engaged. 
The hammer came down again, another perfect strike. Only a few more and it will be in the right shape, thought Nights-shade, almost ready for sharpening. Nights-shade brought down the hammer again, and again straightening the spear-head until it was perfect. He lifted it off the anvil and thrust it into a bucket of waiting water, steam rolled up into his face but he held still letting the heat dissipate.
He pulled the spear tip out of the water, extinguishing the steam, and examined his handy work. It was nearly perfect, just a slight variation near the tip that could eventually lead to breakage if it went any deeper than the surface level. Nights-shade sighed, hoping that it didn't, and walked over to the small sharpening wheel.
Pressing the peddle a few times to get the grind stone moving at an even speed, using his leather hoof protectors he held the tip down against the fast moving stone. Sparks appeared, and he watched as the variation swiftly disappeared from the weapons edge as he went about the work of sharpening it. 
After a short time going about the work, the black steel tip turned almost chrome, as the once dull edge came to a dangerous sharpness. He lifted the spear tip off of the grind stone and inspected it, the quality was good, though not his best work. Sighing, again disappointed, he shuffled to the side, toward the mounting station. He put the spear tip down, and picked up the tongs he had used to grip it before. This time he reached down into a small bucket by the stations foot, and grabbed a roughly four inch metal rod and shoved it amongst the coals of his forges fire.
Leaving the rod to heat up amongst the burning coals, he turned again and grabbed the spear length. It had not yet been sanded to a fine grain, but that was a good thing at this point in the process. Pushing the staff hard against the small work bench, he drilled a whole through it near one end with a small hand drill he retrieved from the work benches top drawer. 
The whole in the length complete, Nights-shade put down the drill and picked up the spear head, placing it in the small slot that had previously been carved at the spears top. The small whole at the bottom of the spear head lined up perfectly with the whole he had drilled into the shafts length. Leaving the spearhead inside the small crevice of the spear length, he turned. Picking up the tongs, he retrieved the rod from underneath the coals, now burning bright red though it maintained its shape.
Carefully Nights-shade lined the rod up with the whole in the spear, and placed it against it. The rod was just slightly too large to fit neatly in the whole, but that was a good thing he was told. Nights-shade picked up a hammer, maintaining the grip on the tongs with his other, and brought the weighty mallet down on the rod. 
He had to work quickly before the rod cooled, so using all of his strength he hammered the rod into the whole again and again. Every muscle in his body straining with each hammer blow. After it was finished, Nights-shade used a small set of iron wrought and magically protected cutters to remove the excess of the rod from the nearly finished spear.
Nights-shade left the spear sitting on the work bench, as he turned and grabbed the stone mold that would allow him to make another spear head. Another pony would soon arrive to retrieve the spear, and take it for sanding, and polishing.
Third spear today. I wonder how every pony else is doing, he thought briefly as the metal he had poured into the mold took its time to cool. Doesn’t matter I suppose, but still it would be nice to know how well I am doing. Particularly when I am so new to this design.
“Nights-shade!” came a booming voice from down the length of the cavern which was filled with row after row of work areas and forges like his own. “Nights-shade!” the voice boomed again, this time closer. 
“Hear boss!” Nights-shade yelled down his alley of forges, his voice echoing down the long line toward the source of the interruption. Nights-shade heard hoof beats against the hard stone floor, as if his boss was galloping toward him. The boss would never do that, he thought snickering at the image in his mind of the fat pencil pusher of a stallion galloping for all he was worth. But the sound of hoof beats kept getting louder, and the sounds of working forges and hammer falls started to die away as stallions at the other forges around him came into the alley way to see what was happening. 
Nights-shade walked into the alley way, just in case his boss was waving to him to come to his office. He glanced down the long line of forges and work benches and saw a diminutive figure running for all it was worth. It can’t be the boss… this is just weird, he thought as another stallion, a Pegasus nearly twice Nights-shade’s size stepped out of his own forge, his fur and feathers coated in soot that only barely dulled the bright, dawn like colors of his coat.
Dawn-strider said “Well… that’s the boss alright. I recognize that yellin voice anywhere.” The great Pegasus looked down and over at Nights-shade “well buddy, looks like it’s your turn for once” the Pegasus grinned from ear to ear.
Nights-shade put his ears back, showing his discomfort. “But… I didn't do anything Dawn… I don’t get it. The boss man must have some kind of news or somthin…” he said, obviously trying to convince himself.
“That’s what I always use to say, remember?” The giant pegusus said, his grin growing even wider. “I wonder what kind of punishment he can give you. I mean ya already work the day shift with the rest of us anyway…” Dawn-striders smile disappeared, replaced by his thinking face. “Maybe he just wants ta yell at ya. Yea… That’s probably it. He wants to yell at ya for making the rest of us lazy louts look bad!” Dawn’s smile was back, it in an odd way it comforted Nights-shade a little to see one of his best friends in the world grinning like a fool.
“Oh stop making fun of him Dawn strider.” Said another pegusus as he stepped out of the forge opposite them both along the alley way. His blue and white coat and main almost unknowable under the soot that covered it. “So help me, if you get him all worked up and it ends up being something serious, I will beat you back into yesterday so you can fix it you big lout.” His voice was a mid-ranged tenor, in contrast to his two best friends and their deep baritone and base. 
“Oh come on Hails… I was just havin some fun. He never gets into trouble ya know? Why we always do.” The large dawn colored Pegasus stomped a foot lazily, kicking a rock into the alleyway. Hails-wind caught the stone as it was going to pass him, and kicked it to Nights-shade starting a small game the three used to amuse themselves while they waited for their boss to arrive.
Nights-shade glanced back down the alleyway and saw the figure which had been galloping just a few minutes before, walking their way, head down in evident exhaustion. “He really needs to get topside more often, do some laps around the mountain or somthin.” Nights-shade whispered as their boss got closer. 
The Stallion was large, as tall as Nights-shade and built as a forge master. Under the layers of fat that coated the stallion’s body, there was a hard layer of muscle that rivaled even Dawn-strider. Something they all knew about. Their boss, Crafter, had bodily thrown stallions out of the forges for fighting more than once, but that didn’t mean he was a very good runner.
Crafter slowly walked up to the group of three, parting the crowed that filled the alley way with snaps of his teeth and gasping threats about breaking skulls. “You alright sir?” Nights-shade asked timidly.
“Just…Let me… Catch… My …Breath” Crafter wheezed breathing deeply between each word. After a minute or two the stallion regained some f his composure and stood straight, towering over the smaller Hails-wind, and meeting Nights-shade square in the eye with is gaze.
“Your fired Nights-shade. Pack your things and head home.” His voice was hard, resolute and a filled with more than a little confusion at the order he just gave. 
“Hell no!” yelled Dawn-strider, “Sir, with all due respect you can’t do that!” argued Hails-wind. A flurry of other protests came from the others in the alley way who knew Nights-shade, knew his character, and most importantly… knew that he needed the job, as they all did. Shouts of “How dare you!” and “He will starve!” echoed off the roof of the giant chamber.
Nights-shade was silent…shocked at the news and how calmly his boss now looked. “QUITE!” his boss yelled, as the forge workers complaints went from a Roar… to a dull roar. “The order came from way above my head. There is nothing I can do Nights-shade…” Crafter looked at him, his eyes pleading for understanding.
“Like hell there is nothing you can’t do to help him!” Dawn-strider yelled, putting a hoof down hard and cracking the ground under it slightly, his face contorted in pure rage. “You will pay for this you selfish bastard!” yelled Hails-wind, as two other pony’s held him back from attacking the much larger and much stronger Crafter; the Pegasus's famous temper getting the better of him. 
“SHUT IT EVERYPONY!” Nights-shade yelled above the ruckus. Every pony did just that, and abruptly the echoes from off the cavern walls were all that was audible, until they too dissipated and silence held the room. “From who Crafter? Who gave the order?” he asked his voice a whisper. 
Crafter looked pained, obviously he was told not to disclose who had lodged the complaint. “I can’t…”
“Come on Crafter… you owe me this at least. Tell me who.” Crafter bowed his head then nodded.
“You know that mugger you fought a few weeks ago?” Nights-shade nodded. “He died.” Nights-shade wasn’t too surprised, he had really worked the would be murderer over. “Well, he also had a brother. Officially he was kicked out of his family and had no claim to title, but his brother is a duke who has Cadences favor right now. I had a message delivered to my office with the royal seal of the crystal empire. While technically she has no official power here, to go against her wishes I would need to go to Luna herself. I actually tried that, but apparently the guy has some friends here to. They stopped me from even getting an audience.”
Nights-shade nodded his understanding. When it came to the royalty, to the nobility, it was all any normal pony could do to go unnoticed. If Crafter was seen as being to uppity, he might just simply disappear in some under cave byway, taken out by assassins. It wasn’t unheard of.
Nights-shade cleared his throat and spoke loudly enough for every pony to hear. “If Crafter didn’t do this, he would be fired for sure.” Nights shade went up to Dawn-strider, putting a hoof into the massive Stallions chest “Do you remember when he went to bat for you with the judge that time you got into a fight with that prince and nearly killed him?” 
Dawns-strider’s expression went from pure rage, to pain as the two conflicting loyalties fought for control of the big Pegasus’s actions. “He saved you from the executioners axe because he threatened to resign if they took you. Do you remember?” Dawn-strider nodded, obviously fighting back tears of frustration.
“And you!” Nights-shade whirled on Hails-wind “He paid out of his own pocket for that new tooth when you foolishly used the hammer with your mouth rather than as you were taught. Do you remember how much pain you were in? It cost him three weeks’ pay!” Hails-wind calmed at that, and looked away, conflicting emotions crossing his face as well.
“Crafter has helped all of us when we needed it. He looked the other way when I needed extra hours to pay for my mother’s treatments despite going against almost every safety guide telling him to do otherwise. Look, I will be ok, I know I will. But you all? You need this forge, and Crafter needs you.” Nights-shade turned to Crafter before saying “I will have my things out and I will be gone as soon as I am done with this spear.” 
Without another word to any of them Nights-shade turned back to his forge, back to his work, fighting the creeping panic that threatened to overwhelm him.
After a few minutes of silence punctuated only by Nights-shades hammer strokes against the small spear head, he heard Crafter yell “All right you mares! Shows over! Get back to work before I start busting skulls!” Crafter was loud, he was always loud. They could all tell his heart was not really in the threats though, as he slowly walked back toward his office. They all returned slowly to their forges, and one by one, Nights-shade’s hammer falls were again echoed across the floor as more and more returned to the work.

---

Merigold, the head nurse of the Bat-pony’s hive, looked down at the handful of samples. Thousands of pony’s tested this year, and only twenty two are compatible, by Celestia if this doesn't improve we will end up losing this war, she thought bitterly.
But then again the Knights, despite their small numbers up till this point had not only held off the darkness, but in some places managed to push back. Graves-field, the breaking of Holdfast’s siege, the battle of Clouds-dale, all had resulted in victory. But even there the Knights despite being ridiculously outnumbered, had only been facing a fraction of the forces that the Betrayer had at her command; and they had all been extremely costly victories. 
A sound from outside the small room in which she worked distracted her, pulling her attention toward the door. Outside through the small window on the far wall, she could see three ponys, one night guard and two day guards walking past. The Loyalist guard were brave, true and determined, but they were savagely, ridiculously outnumbered; more than that they were also hopelessly outmatched in both magic and technology. Celestia soon after the fall, had said that the two things that the pony’s had was the courage of the loyal guard which she had called ‘Luna’s shield’, and the power of the Knights which she had claimed as her ‘lance’. 
What this translated to in reality was the guard were used in defensive operations, while the Knights were primarily used for offensive measures, while elements of the Guard supported them. The guard elements were usually butchered, while the Knights took all the glory, and eventual victory.
Merigold pried her gaze away from the three guard-pony’s and back to her work. She had three samples left to test, and none of them seemed hopeful. She picked up the first, and poured a small sample onto a vision trey, then put the trey under the microscope.
Clean and healthy cells, high amount of red and white blood cells, traditional DNA structure, and no serious abnormalities. This one might be a positive! She thought as she took what was left of the sample and put it in the analyzer. 
Pressing a button on the box like devise, she grabbed the second sample with the same name. Clean healthy bone marrow, no signs of illness, no cancer that I can see… ah what is this? Oh, it’s just a chip of bone… I really need to talk to nurse Joy about being gentler… looks good to me, maybe this guy would actually work. She thought to herself, her hopes starting to rise. The analyzer pinged, a good sign! The first sample was a positive.
Grabbing the first sample out of the devise she replaced it with the second and turned it on. The low hum in the back ground, Merigold threw the first sample in the trash. No need for it now, and grabbed the third sample. 
Putting a small part of it on a third examination trey, she put it under the microscope for examination. Extremely high sperm count… might just drop him for that, we need all of the healthy stallions we can after all… but no Luna said that if he is compatible I should accept him into the program. Alright… Healthy cell structure with no major abnormalities. Slightly higher than average acidity which could lead to eventual infertility… not really a concern for someone who would be entering the program. Though if he has brothers we might want to let them know… Ok, it looks like this one might pass to! Her thoughts kept racing around the possibility that the massive black stallion would have if he were to become a Knight. 
The analyzer beeped again, another good sign. She removed the second and replaced it with the third sample. Turing on the machine she tossed the second sample out, marking some notes on her paper pad to notify the family of the potential to infertility in their stallions later in life.
After a few minutes of marking her notes, the devise beeped again. Merigold ignored it for now, needing to finish her notes. She was almost finished, when she sniffed the air and became aware of the strong smell of smoke. Turning she saw the devise’s flashing green light indicating a positive result, and smoke rising from it.
Oh crap oh crap oh crap! She thought as she ran to the other side of the room to the emergency fire extinguisher she kept there. She turned around lifting the nozzle and opened the valve, smothering the small flickering flames that had started to appear from the devise. That was close, she thought as she retrieved her notes, and the remaining samples that needed testing and walked outside.
She could already hear the fire coach coming, the bat-pony’s and Pegasus wings flapping in the air as the fire alarm sounded behind her. The coach must have been warned by the magical wards Luna had placed all around the cavern in case of fire or other dangers.
She sighed, rubbing her face now lined with the stress wrinkles that spoke of her age, as the fire fighters dumped water barrel after water barrel into her little room; flooding it and destroying the other functioning equipment she kept in it. OH well, it’s all easily replaced anyway, might as well go give that stallion the good news… what was his name again? Oh right… Nights-shade.