Today was a... heated morning in the Silver residence.
"No! Absolutely not!"
"But Mother-"
"No buts, Silver Spoon! You're not going to see that lava-bathing monstrosity!"
"... his name's Grigori-"
"I don't care what his name is! I do not want you going anywhere near him! It was bad enough you even approached him!"
"Mother, this could really help the family business! Imagine if I could help you make jewelry and silverware! Not to mention he stopped his whole forgery just for you! He's not a bad person!"
Their conversation continued like this for the whole morning as Sterling Silver stormed across the mansion with her daughter in tow, desperately trying to sway her opinion. But try as Silver Spoon might, the filly's mother would not be convinced. She reasoned, pleaded, informed, borderline begging, but all to no avail.
"Silver, I said no!"
"We could spend so much more time together! Please, Mom!"
"I've made up my mind! That... that thing is simply too dangerous to have around my only daughter! What about Spike? Why haven't you ever befriended him?"
"Because Spike never offered to teach me something that could help the family business!"
"Silver Spoon, there's safer ways to learn how to forge! You don't even have to forge!"
"But I want to! You're barely home as it is, It'd be so much better if I could join you at work. And you can stop importing jewelry from Canterlot to sell. We can finally be an independent company."
"So if Grigori can prove that he's harmless, he can teach me?"
Figuring her daughter will keep pestering up until nightfall, Sterling Silver finally gave in. She stopped just shy of the front door, ruefully sighing before she turned to her daughter. What she was about to agree to could be for better or for worse. But if Silver Spoon was so adamant on this matter, she could only find it in herself to give in. "Silver Spoon..." she began, taking a deep breath, massaging the bridge of her nose. "... can you look me in the eyes and tell me that this dragon will not hurt you?"
Silver Spoon's response came in the form of an overjoyed expression. "Grigori will not hurt me!" the younger Silver stated with a firm stamp of the hoof.
Sterling was assured as much as she was put off by the reply. "... Alright. I'll let you go see him right after school. But you're only seeing him whenever I'm around."
XXXXX
Grigori woke up late that morning.
The drake had to work the night away, not only forging proper tools to for Silver Spoon's teachings, but he also had to fill his last orders before closing down his forge. After delivering the last of his products and making sure all of his thought out lessons were in order, the tired Grigori munched on a sapphire and slept through the late morning unto the late afternoon.
He was inside the town forge, napping against the anvil when he was woken up from his torpor-like sleep by the high-pitched ringing of the forgery's bell. Stirring and yawning, Grigori stretched, shaking the drowsiness away before he proceed out.
Up the stairway and out of the basement forge, his sleepy slit eyes looked around until they landed on an upbeat Silver Spoon and who he assumed up be her mother, somewhat hiding her fear and unease. "Ah yes, I remember. Silver Spoon." he greeted with a nod, idly scratching his arm. "I understand you've your mother's permission?" he asked expectantly, earning a vigorous nod.
"So long as I am watching." Sterling Silver pointed out, a stroke of force through her apparent unease of the situation.
Grigori took it in stride. "Very well. You may enter." he said before turning tail to head back into the forge, the two ponies right behind him.
The forge itself was essentially a basement as the lover level provided more sound fire control as well as a cooler atmosphere. The floor was a generous layer of sand, with all of the essential tools and equipment neatly put somewhere in the room. The dormant smelter was off in the far corner, and the crucible, just as inactive, was next to it. Not far from them were barrels filled with various ores, ranging from iron to silver to a little bit of gold. On the far wall was the table with rows of freshly-made tools, including picks, tongs, a welding mask, and hammers. At the center of the forge was the anvil with various molds at the ready as well as a barrel of water, and the rest of the room was essentially empty space, save for the vacant racks along the side walls and the bench along the near walls.
Silver Spoon looked around with glee until Grigori's voice drew her attention. "This is where your lessons will be taught. But before you are ready to use any of the equipment, there are many lessons you must be taught before doing so." the drake explained, resting against the smelter. Silver Spoon huffed in discontent while her mother's expression picked up at that. "Aside from teaching and mentoring you, I will be in charge of gathering necessary resources and materials for your endeavors, so you do not have to worry about scarcity of supplies. Throughout your experience, I will aid you less and less, so you will come to rely more and more on yourself. Within time, this forge will eventually become your forge, and I will only arrive to give assignments and advice before you take full ownership. But you are more than free to ask me to bring in or replace whatever you might need. We will move at a reasonable pace, which will give you ample time to master the lesson. But I will not progress to the next until you have done so. Do you understand?" Grigori asked, looking at her with expectant eyes. Silver Spoon gave a resolute nod. "Are you content with this?" he asked Sterling, who was listening intently to the whole ordeal. After a breath of final acceptance, the filly's mother nodded. Grigori himself nodded in acknowledgement. "Very well. We begin immediately." the red dragon stated before moving an open spot in the sand.
"Your first lesson entails conditioning yourself for work in the forge."
XXXXX
Over the next few hours, Grigori actively taught Silver Spoon in her first lesson in smithing.
The smelter was cold, the anvil was smooth and un-struck, and not a single hammer was picked up. Silver Spoon felt like she was in school, but she more than knew how important this was. That, and she didn't intend to see how Grigori responded to slacking. Not that she slacked off to begin with, unlike her friend Diamond Tiara. There were certainly a few interesting bits, some that she couldn't have even thought of on her own.
"Before you are ready to pick up work as a smith, you must know what it means as well as how you fit into it." Grigori explained. "You are an earth pony, and as such, your power comes from your strength. There is much more meaning behind it than what one may think, but I will spare you the philosophical lesson. Earth ponies are naturally more... passionate about what they do and how they do it. And that is where they draw their strength from."
Silver Spoon thought hard on that. "Their... spirit?"
Upon hearing that answer, Grigori chuckled heartily. "You certainly are wiser than you let on."
Sterling watched on with a rigid expression from the bench. The jeweler didn't know a thing about forging or smithing, so she remained quiet as Grigori spoke with her daughter. Despite what she thought of dragons as being greedy and prideful creatures, she noticed that Grigori seemed lucid and relaxed. He rested on his side as he explained bit by bit to her daughter, and he seemed like a professional teacher, even quizzing her at the end of an explanation. He drew in the sand to clarify certain things, and her daughter seemed to soak it all up. As the hours rolled on, Sterling felt herself growing tired, and she found herself resting on the bench, just listening to the deep, relaxed drone of the drake's voice as he taught. But upon realizing that she actually liked something about the dragon, she shot up back to a sitting position, rubbing her eyes and readjusting her glasses.
By the end of it, when Sterling concluded the lesson and it was time to depart, Silver Spoon excitedly waved Grigori goodbye and scampered towards the door. Telling her daughter to wait for her outside, Sterling, regaining her bearings and steeling her resolve, she made her way over to confront the laid back drake, who raised his head to face her.
"Um... Grigori, was it?" she asked, earning a raised brow of acknowledgement. "Is this... is this safe for my daughter?" best to begin the conversation small.
"Yes." Grigori said without missing a beat.
"H-how exactly can I be sure of that?" Sterling pressed cautiously.
"If you fear for her safety around me, there is naught but yourself stopping you from relinquishing her lessons." Grigori reminded. "Is that what you're afraid of? Me? Or is it... this?" Grigori inquired, rising up, motioning broadly to the dormant forge. "Or both?"
"B-both?" Sterling squeaked, lowering her head, fearing she may have upset the dragon.
"Then it seems we are at an impasse. Silver Spoon wishes to learn how to forge, yet you fear for her safety." Grigori clarified, laying out their situation.
"B-but... you're not mad?"
"No." it almost came as a statement. "I agreed to teach Silver Spoon out of my own interest to be seen as good. Like my previous week-long occupation in this forge, if this is fated to be a disadvantage for me, I will simply look elsewhere to find a means to my end. It's foolish to waste time dwelling on the past."
"A little..." the light grey mare began, but couldn't find the right words to finish the comment without seeming offensive.
"Selfish, yes." Grigori finished for her. "But back to your daughter, there are a number of lessons before she is ready to touch metal, and even more before she is ready to strike it. Silver Spoon is smart and intuitive. She pays attention well, and I know she will dutifully heed my teachings and advice. I do not doubt that she herself will take precautions of her own in addition to what she learns from me. Make the argument that words are cheap, but I will see to it that no harm comes to my disciple. That is all there is to it." the finality in his voice implied the end of the conversation.
"I... guess I'll be on my way then. Uh... bye." Sterling said timidly before awkwardly backing away, her gaze desperately trying to avoid his. Besides the nervous sweat, the mare was blushing as red as a tomato.
Were he a lesser-minded dragon, he would have either felt insulted that she didn't trust him enough to turn her back on him, or have intentionally spooked her for the humor in it. Instead, he let out a playful chuckle and said a brief, but good-natured good-bye before he turned tail and walked off in the other direction, putting distance between them before spreading his massive wings, and with a mighty beat of the amazing pair, he was but a shrinking silhouette in the late afternoon sky.
With the possible danger now a small flapping dot in her vision, Sterling let go of the breath she realized she was holding. Blinking a few times, she regained her bearings and turned to see her daughter staring back with a raised brow.
After her mother finally caught up, Silver Spoon broke the ice after a minute of walking. "You two look cute together."
"What?!"