//------------------------------//
// Chapter 29- Birth of a Living Weapon 
// Story: Of Flame and Shadow 
// by Garuda IV 
//------------------------------//

Dark stirred in his sleep in the futon bed in Twilight's parents' living room. Never would he'd guess that such a thing like a pull-out bed like this could feel so comfortable. Once he rolled over, he subconsciously wrapped an arm around the form sleeping next to him and pulled it close, snuggling against it in his sleep. A few moments later, he started to nuzzle the soft fur in his hold, causing him to hear Twilight giggle. Hearing her voice encouraged him to continue his show of affection for Twilight while his eyes were still closed. This prompted another giggle from Twilight, followed by a second giggle that he thought was Cadence. Hearing that there was another pony in the room with them, Dark groaned before waving a claw in the direction of Cadence's voice.

"Cadence," Dark tiredly called, "can you leave me and Twilight alone please? It's snuggle time for us and it's too early to be getting up yet on a day off."

"Umm, Dark?" Twilight said with a snicker. "I'm over here."

Confused, Dark turned his head towards the foot of his bed before opening his eyes to see Twilight and Cadence holding a hoof over their mouths to stifle their giggles while Skyla sat on her mother's back imitating her mom and aunt. As the three continued to show there amusement, Dark just looked back between the two mares.

"Twilight?" Dark groggily addressed. "How did you get over there?"

"... don't you remember last night?"

"Yeah, your dad told me that I had to sleep on the couch tonight, and then Cadence said that-"

Dark immediately went silent as it clicked. Seeing his eyes widening in realization, Twilight, Cadence, and Skyla were now all laughing out loud at him while Dark slowly turned his head to see a thoroughly annoyed Shining Armor looking straight back at him. Unable to move or speak from the shock of embarrassment, Dark merely blinked while Shining's right eye began to twitch.

"You have five seconds to tell me why you're-"

"GAAHHHHH!!"

In a moment of panic, Dark abruptly pushed Shining off his side of the bed while the force behind the shove knocked Dark off of his own side, causing him to fall onto the floor in a tangled mess of blankets. Of course, this only added fuel to the girls' entertainment as their laughter could be heard all throughout the house now, causing the two house owners to walk downstairs to see what the commotion was all about.

"What's going on here?" Night asked them, seeing Dark's thrashing tail protruding from the ball of blankets.

Still laughing, Twilight levitated a photo that she'd taken while Dark and Shining were still asleep over to Night and Velvet. As soon as they saw the photo of Dark holding Shining in their sleep, they both joined in the laughter.

"Oh, my," Velvet said as she tried to control her laugher. "Now this is going into the family album."

"Mom! No!" Shining desperately told her. "Don't do it!"

"Too late, son," Night chuckled, seeing his wife slip the photo into the album and closing it back up.

"Good call on fetching Spike's camera there, Twilight," Cadence complimented before walking over to her husband. "You alright there, Shiny?"

"Not in the slightest," he said with a shiver before looking over to Twilight. "Is this how it usually is for you, Twily?"

"I don't know about that," Twilight shrugged. "I find being with him like that to be rather nice and comfortable. Besides, you felt how warm he was, right?"

"Don't remind me."

Giggling, Twilight went over to try and help Dark, who was still thrashing about trying to get himself untangled from the mess of blankets he was in. Holding him up in her magic, Twilight then began to free him from his clothy bonds. Once she got him untangled, she put him back down on the ground where he instantly went into the fetal position. Seeing him overreacting, Twilight sighed before laying down beside him and draping a wing over him.

"Come on now," she softly spoke to him, "it wasn't that bad now, was it?"

"You have no idea," Dark quietly replied as he began to shiver, his eyes wide with horror. "Next time, he can have the bed and I'll sleep on the floor... or in the fireplace."

"There's no need for such dramatics, Dark," Night laughed.

"I actually agree with him," Shining spoke from his position by the bed, his eyes peeking over the mattress at Dark. "There's no way that I'm going to share a bed with him ever again if it means having to wake up being hugged like some life-sized plushy."

"Surely you're over-exaggerating," Velvet said.

"It's like Brokeback Mounter," Dark shakily said.

"Yeah, what he said," Shining hastily nodded.

With one last laugh, Velvet turned to make her way out of the living room. "Well then, who's up for some pancakes?"

Receiving a round of nods, she and Night made their way towards the kitchen. With them gone, Dark shuffled himself closer against Twilight, trying his best to use her to hide himself. With a smiling sigh, she turned to Cadence.

"Hey, Cadence?" she called. "Would it be alright if I borrowed Skyla for a moment?"

Walking over, Cadence let Twilight take the little filly from her back and place her down in front of Dark. Confused, she looked up to Twilight to see her nodding over to Dark's huddle form. Looking form her aunt to Dark, Skyla walked over and began poking at him to get his attention. Feeling the little hoof bumping him, Dark shifted his head along the floor in front of him to see the little foal smiling and making baby noises at him, which in turn caused Dark to smile back.

"Good morning to you too, little one," Dark smiled, causing her to happily squeal before she began to try and climb up his face.

While he tried to hold still and not make any sudden movements with the little foal crawling up his face, Dark couldn't help but chuckle at her cute attempt. Sure enough though, with the help of her buzzing wings, she managed to make it up to the top of Dark's head and sit herself down behind his horn. Sitting there, she turned to Twilight and held her forelegs out to her. Seeing her like this caused Twilight to giggle at the two before leaning her head over to nuzzle her little niece, getting a happy baby coo in reply. However, while Twilight was nuzzling Skyla, an unpleasant scent caught her attention. Taking a few extra sniffs, she looked down to her niece before looking over to Cadence.

"Umm, we've got a small problem," Twilight said with a scrunched-up nose. "And it stinks."

"Diaper need changing?" Cadence guessed, earning a nod from Twilight.

Sighing, Shining walked over and picked his foal up off of Dark's head before making his way up to their room.

"How is it that something so cute and adorable can stink so bad?" Twilight questioned.

"I don't know about that," Dark said with a small smirk. "I think that for something so cute and adorable, you smell rather nice."

"You know what I mean," she replied with a teasing punch to his shoulder. "Although, you're compliment is appreciated."

"So, Dark," Cadence began, "how was last night?"

"Are you teasing me, or are you being serious?" he questioned.

"Teasing aside, I really am curious. I was almost half-expecting to hear some kind of ruckus downstairs."

"Actually, I think that we made some progression."

"Really?"

"Yep. He said that while he still doesn't really like me, that he's willing to give me a chance."

"Dark, that's wonderful!" Twilight exclaimed before happily pouncing on him and hugging and nuzzling his cheek.

"Yeah, but I think I might've messed up with this mornings... misunderstanding."

"I'm sure that he'll look past it," Cadence assured him.

"Hey, kids," Night called as he turned the corner into the living room. "The first batch of pancakes are off and- Dark, what did I tell you about making out with my daughter in front of me?"

"I swear it's not what it looks like," Dark quickly said. "Twilight is just happy that Shining and I are starting to get along."

"Speaking of your brother, where did he go?"

"Skyla needed her diaper changed," answered Cadence.

"Ah. Well, whenever you three are ready, come on over and take a seat. Oh, and could one of you go get Shining and Spike and tell them breakfast is ready?"

"Sure," Dark said standing up.

After taking a few steps, he stopped when he didn't feel the extra weight on his back leave. Turning his head, Dark saw that Twilight was still laying on his back with her forelegs wrapped around his neck.

"What?" she innocently asked.

"Not that I don't mind you being there, Twilight, but I don't think that your dad really approves of this, nor would I think that Shining would either if he saw too."

"Are you asking me to hop off?" she pouted.

"I don't know about him, but I am," Night promptly answered.

With a disappointed sigh, Twilight slid off of Dark's back and followed Night and Cadence into the kitchen. Free of his cute burden, Dark made his way upstairs to the room where he heard Shining grumbling to himself. Knocking on the door, he poked his head inside to see him just finishing putting on Skyla's new diaper.

"Your dad says that breakfast is ready," Dark told him.

"Alright," he returned, "we'll be right down. And, Dark?"

"Yeah?"

"About what happened earlier, we're to never speak of it again."

"Speak of what again?"

"Exactly."

With one pony down, Dark closed the door before making his way to Twilight's room where Spike was suppose to be. However, before he grabbed the door handle, it finally hit him that this was his fillyfriend's old bedroom that he was about to enter, and that made him nervous. Although he said that he'd go wake up Spike, he didn't want to go in without permission. So instead, he knocked on the door. After he didn't get any answer, he knocked on it a bit louder.

"Hey, Spike," he called through the door, "you up yet?"

"No, I'm not," Spike grumbled back. "Let me go back to bed. It's too early for me to be up on a day off."

Dark chuckled to himself hearing Spike use the same excuse that he'd made earlier.

"What about breakfast? It's pancakes."

"... did Twilight's mom make them?"

"Yep."

Right after saying that, Dark heard Spike running along the floorboards towards the door. Before he knew it, the door had already opened and closed with Spike running down the halls.

"Race you there!" Spike called.

Shaking his head, Dark Shadowported down to the kitchen. A few seconds later, he could see Spike running in, slightly panting for air before looking annoyingly to Dark.

"Hey! You cheated!"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Dark said as he took a seat.

With a grumble, Spike sat down at the table with the rest of the family. At least, most of the family as Shining was just walking in with Skyla in tow. After sitting her down in her booster seat and strapping her in, Shining took his seat at the table. With everyone now together, they began loading their plates and were soon enjoying Velvet's homemade pancakes.

"So," Velvet began after some time had passed, "what does everypony have planned for today?"

"Not much really," Cadence answered. "Shining and I have the next few days off to be with the family before we have to go back to the Crystal Empire."

"Alright, and what about you, sweetie?"

"Actually, I was wondering if my friends could come over to visit?" Twilight asked.

"Dear, you don't need to ask us permission for that. They're welcome here anytime."

"Great! Thank you, mom."

"You're welcome, sweetie. So, Spike, how about you?"

"Meh. I might head on over to Doughnut Joe's for a little bit and talk with him," he shrugged.

"Alright." Velvet paused and looked over to Dark. "And what about you?"

"Hmm?" Dark questioned with a mouth-full of pancakes.

"Any plans for today?"

Swallowing his pancakes, Dark answered her. "I actually have an appointment down in the forge."

"Oh, I almost forgot about that," Twilight spoke. "You're going to the royal forge to make something with that Draconium ore of yours, aren't you?"

"Yep."

"Wait," Night interrupted, "isn't that stuff suppose to be dangerous to dragons? And didn't you say that you're part dragon now?"

"Yes, and yes. I was actually thinking about that last night, and I believe that I may have an idea of how to make it so that the Draconium can sort of bond with me."

"What did you have in mind?" Twilight curiously asked.

"... you don't wanna know," Dark answered vaguely.

Not liking the sound of his answer, Twilight began glaring at him, causing him to become nervous.

"Tell me."

"... well... let's just say that it involves quelching it in something else than the oils we would naturally be using."

"Is it going to be dangerous?"

"Not for me it shouldn't."

With a sigh, Twilight decided to drop it... for now. "I get the feeling that something about this plan is considered reckless, but I trust that you won't do anything too risky."

"I promise to return to you just as I left."

"Good."

"Does that mean that you'll be leaving soon?" Velvet wondered.

"I'll leave at about noon," Dark answered. "It should take me about twelve hours to complete it if my guess is correct."

"So you won't be done until midnight?"

"Roughly."

"In that case, we'll leave the door unlocked for when you get back."

"Or I could just Shadowport in if you want instead."

"What's a 'Shadowport'?" Night asked.

"It's the name of that teleportation spell I used during the fight last night."

"Ah. Well, as long as you're quiet and don't wake anypony up, then I suppose it's alright."

"Yes, Night."

The rest of the meal went quietly and uneventfully, minus everyone watching Shining trying to feed Skyla her breakfast, which they found to be rather adorable. Once they were done, everyone helped cleaned up after breakfast and helped with the dishes. With everything cleaned and put away, they retreated back to the living room where Dark and Shining folded the futon bed back into the couch and began to enjoy the company of everyone there. While Shining and Night were telling Spike about what happened last night in one area, the ladies were in another spot catching up, leaving Dark to play with Skyla and filling the house with her laughter and squeals of delight.

It started out with them playing peekaboo and gradually turned to her chasing after him. Of course, Dark would purposely let her catch him after a small chase, which eventually lead to her trying to pounce on his tail as he dragged it across the floor. Once he noticed it, Dark sat himself down and slowly wagged it back and forth for her to try and catch. After a while of playing with her, Dark walked back into the living room, his tail dragging on the floor with Skyla sitting on it like a she was on a little sled ride. Walking over to Cadence, Dark lifted his tail up and gave her daughter back to her before looking over to the clock.

"Wow. Didn't think that it was already that late," Dark said noticing that it was already 11:30 A.M.

"Does that mean that you're leaving now?" Velvet asked.

"Yeah. I'll try not to make any noise when I get back tonight."

"Just be sure to come tell me when you get back," Twilight told him. "I'm still nervous about this plan of yours and just want to know that you're back safely."

"Alright, I will."

"What about food?" Velvet wondered. "If you're going to be down in the forge all day, won't you need something to eat?"

"Hmmm. Guess I'll just have to pick something up on my way back. With a city this big, I should be able to find a place to eat that late at night. Maybe a quick hayburger or two?"

"Don't you worry about that. When you get back, there'll be some leftovers waiting for you on the kitchen table."

"Are you sure about that? I just don't want to intrude on you anymore than I already have."

"Nonsense. I'm not going to allow my daughter's coltfriend to go hungry."

"Yes, ma- uh, thank you, Velvet."

"You're welcome. Now you better head on off before you're late."

Taking a brief moment, Dark turned around to see that Night and Shining had their backs turned to them while talking to Spike. With them not being able to see them, Dark quickly gave Twilight a goodbye kiss.

"You have fun with your friends," he smiled.

"Don't worry, I will," Twilight smiled back.

"I need to head on out. See you guys later," Dark said to the guys as he made his way out.

Heading out the door, Dark took a look around the city street before spreading his wings and taking flight. While he'd considered walking, the crowds and traffic would delay him and probably make him late. It only took him a few minutes for him to land in front of the gates to the castle grounds and walk up to one of the guards guarding it.

"Hello," Dark greeted. "I'm here for a scheduled appointment in the royal forge."

"You're Dark, right?" one of the guards asked.

"Yep."

Both of the guards smirked.

"So, how much trouble were you in?"

"Sorry, what?"

"We saw you and Prince Shining Armor fight at the Coliseum last night," the other guard answered.

"Oh, great."

"Yeah," the first one spoke, "what was up with the princesses dragging you two away like that anyway?"

"... they found out that we were fighting when we weren't suppose to."

Now both of the guards were chuckling at him. Looking from one guard to the other, Dark cleared his throat before speaking back up.

"So," he said catching their attention, "may I go in now?"

"Sure, go right in."

With his thanks, Dark walked past the guards and onto the castle grounds. Making his way into the castle, Dark was met with a snicker from almost each guard that he came across. Trying to ignore them, he continued down the halls, having to stop a few times to get directions to the throne room. Soon enough, he finally made it there and was greeted with the sight of Princess Celestia looking bored as she listened to Prince Blueblood talking to her. Instantly recognizing him, Dark slowly made his way over to him, catching Celestia's eye as he approached. As he got closer, memories of that day came back to him, causing his shadows to start emanating off of him again while also casting his Soul Eyes for their glowing effect.

"And that is why- what are you looking at?" Blueblood asked Celestia. "Is there somepony behind me?"

"Not quite a pony," Dark answered as he stood directly behind him.

Recognizing that voice, Blueblood spun himself around to come face-to-face with Dark, who's wide grin showed-off his fangs. Seeing his glowing eyes, sharp fangs, and the shadows flowing off of his body, Blueblood let out a high-pitched scream before he retreated back behind Celestia.

"That's him, Aunty!" he said pointing as he cowered behind her. "That's the beast that dared to assault me!"

"Oh, really?" Celestia replied half-amused, already knowing what had happened. "And what did he do exactly?"

"He grabbed me and said that he'd remove my hoof!"

Shaking her head, Celestia looked from her nephew over to Dark. "Dark, as amusing as this is to watch, would you mind cutting back on the theatrics? I think you've scared Blueblood enough for one week."

"Yes, Princess," Dark said, dispelling his Soul Eyes and retracting the shadows back into him.

"You'll pay for this you demon pony!" Blueblood sneered.

Annoyed with him, Dark Shadowported up in front of the cowardly prince. "If you want to fight me then go schedule an appointment for us at the Coliseum. In the meantime, I have business here to take care of that doesn't include wasting my time with you."

"Just you wait," Blueblood threatened as he slowly backed away towards the throne room doors, "soon you'll find that going against me was a mistake."

"The only mistake I've made was letting you-" Dark stopped when he felt a hoof on his shoulder.

Looking up, he saw Celestia shaking her head. Relaxing himself, he sat down as Celestia looked back to her nephew.

"Blueblood," she began, "I've already heard about what happened between you, Twilight, and Dark from Twilight's friends this morning. And I must say that I'm greatly disappointed with you that you would try and persuade Twilight with force."

"But that-"

"No, Blueblood," Celestia interrupted, hearing Dark lightly growl at him. "I know that you've been pursuing Twilight ever since she became a princess, but now I'm putting an end to it. Just remember that I'm doing this for your safety. Unless of course, you'd prefer that I let Dark have his way with you."

Hearing that last part, Dark went from a low growl to a loud hiss as he barred his fangs and began unfurling his wings. Taking the hint, Blueblood quickly bowed to the princess.

"I understand, I will no longer try to court Princess Twilight," Blueblood loudly stated before quietly muttering to himself, "For now anyway."

"I'm glad that you understand, now off you go."

Without any hesitation, Blueblood quickly ran out of the throne room and slammed the doors shut behind him. Once he as sure that he was gone, Dark began to start chuckling, but stopped when he turned to see the disapproving look Celestia was giving him. Silencing himself, he began looking apologetically to the princess... until a smile started to form on her own face. Soon enough, Celestia was laughing, which in turn caused Dark to laugh as well.

"So," Dark began, trying to get ahold of his laughter, "you're not upset? I thought that you'd be mad at me for doing that to a prince."

"Although he may be my adopted nephew," Celestia started to explain, "he's actually been getting on my nerves lately. I've actually been waiting to hear news of somepony putting him in his place, I just didn't expect it to be you after meeting him only once."

"Considering what he did, I'd say that a verbal warning was him getting off easy."

"I'm actually a little surprised that you didn't do more. I know that dragons are greedy and protective, and that they'll attack anything that threatens them or their treasure."

"Technically I'm only a half-dragon, but I don't get that last part. Besides the chest I have in storage, I don't really have any treasure."

"But you treasure Twilight, right?"

"... I guess when you say it like that," Dark quietly said with a blush, trying to hide his face by looking away.

"There's no need to be shy about it," Celestia giggled. "I already knew how you two felt about each other back after the invasion, so please don't feel as though you need to hide it from me."

Turning his head to see her smiling down to him, Dark allowed himself to smile back up. 

"Yes, Princess," he returned before noticing where he was sitting.

With wide eyes, Dark Shadowported back down off of the dais and bowed to Celestia.

"I'm sorry!"

"What for?" Celestia asked confusingly.

"I didn't mean to sit beside your throne like that. I wasn't thinking about it at the time."

"Relax, Dark, I'm not going to get upset over something so small. Besides, you sitting like that reminded me of when I went to visit one of the foreign rulers who actually had a manticore as a pet sitting beside their throne. Now, if only I could remember who it was..."

"You're not going to try and use me like that, are you?" Dark asked with a smirk.

Seeing that he was making a joke of this, Celestia decided to play along. "Sorry, Dark, but I believe that Twilight's the one who has a leash on you, not me."

Seeing him groan from embarrassment like that caused Celestia to give a small laugh before she making her way down from her throne.

"But that's enough of that. I believe that you're here about you working the forge with your Draconium?"

"Yep."

"In that case, I'll show you there," she told him, leading him out of the throne room and towards the forge.

Dark cocked an eyebrow. "Not to sound rude, but don't you have more important stuff to do than to guide somepony to the forge?"

"Perhaps, but it's been a while since I've been down there and I could use the exercise after all the cake from last night. Oh, speaking of which, that was a good fight you two had."

"So you saw it?" Dark sighed.

"Most of the royal guards and night guards saw it, including Luna and I. Although, they weren't very happy with the outcome."

"Because Twilight and Cadence interrupted it?"

"Something like that. It was mostly because they all made bets on you and Shining Armor and lost."

"... I don't get it. If they betted on the two of us and neither of us won, then why did they lose?"

"Because I made the bet that it would end in a draw," she smirked.

"... so you won the bet then?"

"Yes, I did. Speaking of which, I should probably thank those two for doing that. They definitely made it entertaining with how they dragged you both out of the arena by your ears."

"I know," Dark grumbled. "Even with my regeneration, my ear is still a bit tender from that."

"By the way," she began as they descended a set of stairs, "why were you fighting Shining Armor in the first place?"

"Twilight's dad wanted me to prove myself to him," he began to answer, "and to do that, he wanted me to participate in a Coliseum match. However, I didn't know who my opponent was until I saw Shining walking out of that gate."

"Ah. I see."

Noticing the lack of light from before, Dark looked around to see that they were in a torch-lit hallway now aligned with dark-colored stone blocks. A few minutes later, they came upon a set of heavy iron doors which Celestia opened with ease. As the doors opened with a loud groan, Dark saw the massive forge behind it.

The forge was more like a cavern filled with metals, anvils, hammers, forges, racks filled with weapons and armors, and hundreds of other forging tools. But what really caught his attention was the single, massive forge at the far end with rivers of molten metal flowing around it.

"Welcome," Celestia welcomed with a wave of her hoof, "to the Underforge."

"Underforge?" Dark repeated in confusion.

"Aye, lad," a third voice answered, "this here be the great Underforge, named because it's... well... underground. Hahaha!"

Walking over to them was a short and beefy, light-tan, bald earth pony stallion, with a braded orange beard, brown eyes, and a hammer and anvil cutie mark.

"Dark, may I introduce the master smith, Anvil."

"Hello, Anvil," Dark greeted.

"Hey there, lad," Anvil returned. "So, yer the one with the Draconium, aye?"

"Yep."

"And ye used to work a as a smithy?"

"Used to back in my old village."

"Aye, I heard about what happened. My sincerest of apologies, lad."

"Thanks, but that's not why we're here, is it?"

"Hahaha, no it isn't. So then, can I see the little beauty?"

"You mean the Draconium ore?"

"Aye, the ore!"

Nodding, Dark reached into his Shadow Storage and dragged out his chest. Setting it down, he opened the top and took out the ore before sending the rest of the chest back into storage. Giving it to Anvil, he held it like it was the most precious thing he's ever held while looking at it with a small trickle of drool leaking from his mouth. He continued eyeing out the metal until Celestia cleared her throat, snapping out of his trance and back to reality.

"Oh, right," he chuckled. "So, yer gonna be forging this here beauty into a mighty fine weapon, aye?"

"Yep," Dark eagerly nodded.

"Why didn't ye use it before? Seemed like it would be a good idea, considering all the dragons ye had flying around."

"I know, but one weapon wouldn't have done much against an entire race."

"Aye, I suppose it wouldn't."

"So then," Celestia began, "am I'm to believe that you can take it from here, Anvil?"

"No problem, Yer Highness."

"Thank you. Oh, and, Dark. When you're finished, Luna would like for you to show her what you've made. She seemed to be quite curious about it."

"If she's curious about it, should I expect her to make a surprise visit?" Dark wondered.

"I cannot say for certain, but she might."

"Alright. Thank you for everything, Princess," he thanked with a bow.

"You're welcome. Be safe now, and I'll see you later."

Waving goodbye, the two stallions watched as Celestia left the Underforge and closed the iron gates behind her. With her gone, Anvil gave Dark the Draconium back and lead him through the Underforge.

"Ye'll be using my forge for this project," Anvil told Dark as he lead him to the massive forge at the other side of the cavern. "However, while ye'll be making this thing, I'll be here to assist ye."

"Okay, but where is everypony else who's suppose to be working down here?"

"Lunch break, laddy"

"... then why are you here? Aren't you hungry too?"

"I would if I didn't eat an hour ago, hahaha! So then, do ye know what kind of weapon yer gonna be making?"

"A greatsword that's longer than the length of the tip of my nose to the base of my tail," Dark answered. "Its blade will also be double-edged with the width widening the further down to the guard it goes, reaching almost as wide as my shoulders. The front edge will have a slight curve to the blade that will widen out towards the base, and extend beyond the hilt, while the back edge will have a straight blade with a guard."

"Sounds like yer trying to put two different types of swords together. Ye know that this monster of a sword'll be heavy to lift, aye?"

"I can wield two-hoofed weapons with one claw with ease. If it weighs a bit more than a normal greatsword, then it won't be a problem."

"Ye sure about that, lad?"

"Yep."

"Well, don't say that I didn't warn ye."

"Would you feel better if you had a hoof in the design?"

Anvil cocked an eyebrow at him. "Are ye sure? This is yer weapon after all."

"While it is my weapon, and I did used to do smithing, I think that trusting in a master smith like you who's been hired by the princesses would be a good idea."

"Heh, not bad, lad. I might have a few ideas to lighten it up, and it shouldn't affect the overall design."

"In that case, whey don't we get started?"

"Righty then. So, over there is where we'll smelt down the-"

"Actually," Dark interrupted. "There's something that I wanted to check out first."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. You know how Draconium is lethal to dragons?"

"Aye."

"Well, I have an idea on now to fix that so it won't harm me and be compatible with my magic."

"And what did ye have in mind?"

"... you promise not to tell anypony?"

"Lad, what happens in the Underforge, stays in the Underforge... unless of course we have to ship it out."

"Alright then." Dark paused to take a breath before revealing his plan. "Since Draconium has special properties against dragons, and seeing as how I'm part dragon, instead of quelching the metal in oil, I want to use my blood instead."

"... are ye serious?"

"Yes. I'm going to drown this sword in my own blood during its creation."

"... and how do ye plan on doing this without draining yerself dry?"

"I can regenerate, so draining myself of a few gallons of blood should be fine."

"I don't like this idea, lad," Anvil said with a frown before a shimmer was seen in his eye. "Then again, if this idea of yers does work, then this beauty of a weapon will be a masterpiece."

"So you're in?"

"Lad, never in all of my years of working as a smithy have I ever heard of such an crazy plan. So, aye, I'm in. But how are ye gonna collect this blood of yers?"

Walking over to one of the empty quelching station, Dark reached into his Shadow Storage and pulled out one of his swords. Leaning over it, he cut-off his own left arm and let the blood start pouring into it. Although it hurt like a mother, he didn't lose consciousness, nor did he start feel nauseous. He did, however, have to pause a few times to reattach his arm so that the wound wouldn't regenerate itself before cutting it off again. This process was repeated over a dozen more times before enough blood had been gathered, including any blood that would burn away from its quelching.

Taking a breather, Dark reattached his arm for the last time before sitting himself down against a nearby anvil while Anvil walked over and looked at the gathered blood. Seeing how much there was, he gave out a low whistle before turning to Dark, then back to the blood.

"I honestly didn't think that ye had it in ye," he said as he continued to eye it out.

"Well, to tell you the truth, I've never actually done something that before," Dark admitted to him.

"Crazy stallion."





Over at the house, Twilight was sitting in the living room playing with her friends when a chill ran up her spine. Turning from her friends, she looked out the window to Canterlot Castle with a small scowl on her face.

"Twilight? Everythin' alright there, sugarcube?" Applejack asked.

"I just have this feeling that Dark went on ahead and did something really crazy and stupid," she answered before turning back to the game they were playing. "Alright Rainbow, your turn. Now, truth or dare?"





Back down in the Underforge, Dark and Anvil had just finished heating the metal and began the shaping. While normally they would use a stone carving and pour the molten metal directly into it, this one was a custom design and couldn't be treated the same as any standard weapon. And so, they had to create this one by hoof. Together they split the jobs between them with Anvil holding the metal down against the anvil while Dark would take a hammer to it and start the shaping.

For most of the afternoon they focused on the shaping of the weapon, quelching it in Dark's blood after each treatment before it had to be returned back into the forge. By the time they were finally finished with it, it was already 8:00 P.M. and they were starting to get tired. Thankfully, they'd reached a point in their forging that they could take a quick food break. They didn't have to leave the forge, however, as Celestia had some food brought down for them not long ago

Now that the sword was shaped, including the guard for the back of the blade, they could start removing the excess grime and metals from it. Between that, the polishing, and sharpening, another three hours have passed. Setting the sword down against one of the anvils, they looked at their work. The shape of the design had come out just the way that Dark had hoped it would, along with the red color that was suppose to come with it, but they couldn't understand why it was a dark-crimson instead of its normal red color. Though if they had to guess, it would probably be from all of the times it was bathed in Dark's blood during its forging. There as a change, though, that was made to it, being the magical rune carvings on the flat of them blade which Anvil applied to make the weapon lighter, but it was welcomed by Dark. He also went with cloth wrapping on the metal hilt instead of shaping a wooded one to fit, and embedded an enchanted gem into the center of the guard that Dark could channel his magic into.

"So," Anvil spoke after a minute of silence, "is it what ye were hoping it would be?"

"It looks like it," Dark replied, "but the shape wasn't really the big thing I was worried about."

"Ye wanna know whether or not it'll work with yer unique dragon magic that ye told me about, aye?"

"Yep."

"Well then what are ye waiting for? Go on and give it a whirl."

Smiling to his new friend, Dark stood bipedal and walked over to his new weapon. Grabbing the hilt, he lifted it up with ease with the curved blade of the sword pointing away from him. After giving a few practice swings to get a feel for it, he began to light his horn and tap into the gem, causing it to glow red and for its blade to become encased in fire. Next was the big one of whether or not Dark's draconic magic could be applied to the weapon itself. Emanating shadows from his sword arm, he sent the magic from his claw into the sword. It started out as just a little bit, but as he started pouring more into it, the weapon began to hum with power. A few seconds later it reached the gem, turning it black and causing the sword blade to suddenly erupt with his shadows.

Looking at it with wide eyes, Dark gave it a couple of swings and watched as a trail of shadows followed behind it. While this was an unexpected effect, he also felt his shadows moving within the weapon. Pulling the magic back into his arm, the black flames covering the sword faded away. Feeling giddy with excitement for having completed the rather painful weapon, Dark channeled his magic to it again and shrouded the weapon in his shadows again.

"Well I'll be," Anvil muttered. "Never in all my days would I've thought that Draconium could've been adaptable with the use of dragon blood... or kirin blood in your case."

"You don't know how happy this has made me, Anvil," Dark said with a large smile on his face.

"By the look on yer face there, lad, I'd say it's quite a bit."

"Yep. Hey, thanks a lot for all of your help today, and for allowing me to use your forge like this."

"Yer welcome, lad. Also, I thank ye for allowing me to work on such a special metal. It's rare for any smithy to see even a piece of Draconium ore, let alone be able to actually get to work with it."

"You're welco- what the hay?!"

Out of the corner of his eye, Dark saw that his sword was acting up as the shadows began to flail around. Holding it out in front of him, Dark and Anvil watched as shadows turned to black flesh and started to spread outwards from the enchanted gemstone, and across the rest of the blade. Thrusting the sword into the ground, Dark took a few steps back as the black flesh began to cover most of the weapon in it. By the time it was done, the entire hilt and guard were covered in it while strips of it reached up towards the tip, partially covering the deep-crimson sword, but somehow staying clear of the bladed edges. As the two continued to look worryingly at the new weapon, they saw that the gemstone was glowing rhythmically and pulsating, almost like a heartbeat. Noticing it, Anvil's eyes widened in fear and took a few more steps back.

"By the princesses, what have ye done, lad?" he asked Dark.

"What are you talking about?" Dark nervously questioned back.

"Yer a smithy, so ye should know what this is!"

"I'm sorry, but I've never seen or heard of anything like this before."

Facehoofing, Anvil breathed to try and calm his nerves. "What we have here, lad, is a Living Weapon."

"A what now?"

"Living Weapon," he repeated. "Somehow ye've gone on ahead and accidentally created one. Don't ye see how the gem's light is pulsing like a heartbeat would?"

"I see that, but I still don't understand how this had happened."

"Perhaps I can explain," the weapon spoke, causing Dark to jump while Anvil remain as he was.

"And apparently it's one that can talk," he sighed.

"Of course I can talk, little pony."

"Wait," Dark slowly said as he began to recognize that voice. "Is that you again, Nocturne?"

"First you imprison me within your body, and then you split a piece of both your soul and mine into this weapon! Thank a lot!"

"Hey, accidentally imprisoning your soul in my body was your own fault. But how is it that you're in my sword now?"

"Blood is the currency of the soul, and with the amount of it that you'd paid, you've inadvertently bounded part of our souls to this thing."

"Wait a darn minute here," Anvil interrupted, "ye know this thing?"

Dark sighed. "This is Nocturne. He's a dragon who's soul is bound to me."

"Well... that's interesting."

"Anyway," Dark continued, redirecting the conversation back on topic, "from what I understand, you're saying that you're bound to that sword now."

"No. We're bound to it," Nocturne corrected. "Haven't you paying attention to what I've been saying? With the amount of blood that you used, this sword has literally become apart of you. You'll have no use for putting it in your 'Shadow Storage' as you call it, because it'll just absorb straight into your body."

Dark blinked. "That's a little unsettling."

"It doesn't hurt if that's what you're thinking. So long as you have magic, you can summon this weapon into or out of your body at will."

"Alright, but what happened to it? What's up with the black flesh covering it? And why are you able to speak again?"

"While I don't care for being asked so many questions at once, I'm willing to make an exception since this is somewhat interesting to me. The black fleshy tendrils are what my skin used to look like. And don't you be disgusted with it, because it only just made that sword even stronger. Now for your blood. Even though it played a major roll in bonding it to you, it wouldn't have worked if you didn't add my magic into the weapon and have something to bond them together with. And thanks to your blacksmith friend, he provided just the right gem to do that, to which I suppose I should thank him for."

"Umm, yer welcome?" Anvil questionably replied.

"So let me get this straight," Dark began, massaging his temples as he tried sorting this all out, "our souls are now bound to this weapon that is literally apart of me."

"Correct," Nocturne confirmed.

"And it's compatible with my magic."

"If you're referring to the magic that you've inherited from me, then yes."

"Will its Draconium effects still work on me, or am I immune to it since we're bound now?"

"It won't work on you."

"Good. Now, since our souls are bound to it, what would happen to us if the weapon took damage or broke?"

"Nothing."

"... are you sure?"

"You question me?"

"It just seems like for it having so many benefits like this that it should come with some negative side effects as well to balance it."

"The weapon is apart of you, so there aren't any!" Nocturne barked, getting annoyed of this.

"One last question," Dark said as he approached the blade. "Does this mean that I can talk to you freely now?"

"Only when you want to. Remember that you're in control, which includes whether or not you want to speak to me."

"So you won't start speaking up out of nowhere to everypony?"

"Maybe when the sword is out I will, but that depends on the situation and if you want me to talk or not."

"Alright then. Just don't go talking to me during my... loving time," Dark told him, grabbing the fleshy hilt and pulling the sword out of the ground.

"So what should we name it?" Anvil wondered.

"What?"

"In the olden times, great weapons had a special name given to them, so I just thought that a weapon like this deserves a name of its own."

"Honestly, I got nothing. I mean, it's a blood-red sword with black, fleshy tendrils attached to it."

"I know of a name," Nocturne spoke, causing the two to look at him. And though they couldn't see him, they could practically feel his grin.

"So? What is it?"

"Death Reaver."

"Huh. Where'd you come up with that name?"

"It reminds me of the name of my old weapon that was stolen from me long ago. And before you start asking, it was a scythe called Death Reaper."

"How can somepony steal a weapon made for you?"

"Because it shrank down to be compatible to his size, that's why."

"Huh, well that's neat. Okay then, I'll go with it, though I might nickname it Reaver for short. Thanks for the name, Noc."

"Sure," he muttered. "And don't call me that."

Letting the conversation die out, Dark started thinking of the blade sinking into his claw, and sure enough, the weapon turned to shadows and was absorbed into the palm of his claw. Focusing again, he tested the weapon by summoned out of the same claw before returning it back.

"Well," Dark began speaking, "that was... an experience."

"Aye, that it was," Anvil replied with a hard pat on Dark's back that knocked him back down to all fours. 

"Thanks," he groaned, rubbing the sore spot on his back before looking over the mess that they made. "Well, I guess that we should probably start cleaning this up."

"Aye. Good luck with that, lad."

"You're not helping me?"

"Oh, I'm helping ye clean up, but that bloody mess is yers to take care of yerself."

"Fair enough I suppose. It is my mess after all."

"Aye, that it is. Now enough chit-chatting. It's late enough as it is and I wanna get me some shut-eye... after I grab me a few pints of ale. After a forging like that, I could really go for some drinks... actually, more like a lot of drinks."

While cleaning up the tools, metal chunks, and shavings took only fifteen minutes with the help of Dark's magic, the blood wasn't quite as easy as it took him over a half-hour before it was scrubbed clean. With a tired sigh, Dark dumped out the bloody water down into a nearby drain before rinsing the bucket out and setting it back where he found it. Looking back to see that the forge was just as clean as it was before they started, Dark and Anvil both exited the Underforge and locked it up behind them. Reaching the top of the staircase leading to the Underforge, they bid each other a goodnight with Anvil heading to the pub while Dark made his way to the throne room to meet up with Luna. After a good fifteen minutes of walking around getting lost... again, Dark finally found the doors to the throne room.

"They should really put up signs on the walls or something," he muttered to himself as he began top open the doors.

Hearing the doors starting to open up, Luna looked up from a scroll she was reading to see Dark walking in and shutting them behind him. Smiling, she waved him over with a hoof.

"It is good to see you again, Dark," she welcomed him.

"It's good to see you too, Your Highness," Dark returned with a bow.

"Tia told me about what happened with you and our bothersome nephew in the throne room earlier today."

"And?"

"And I must say that I wish that I could've been there to watch."

"Perhaps next time," Dark joked, causing him and Luna to giggle.

"So, I take it that you have finished your project?"

"Well... yes, we did," he slowly answered, "but there were some... unexpected outcomes with its completion."

"May I see it?"

With a nervous nod, Dark focused on the sword, causing a shadow to erupt out of his claw and swiftly shape itself into the Death Reaver before grabbing hold of it. He then levitated it over to Luna who took the sword in her own magic and began to inspect it.

"Hmmm. No warps or bends in the blade, feels durable and strong, but it also feels rather light for something of this size," she noticed.

"Anvil engraved some runes onto it to help reduce its weight," Dark explained.

"Ah, I see. And the gemstone?"

"His idea too."

"Well you can't blame him for adding some utility to it."

"Suppose not, especially after I told him that he could help and give me suggestions and stuff."

"So you did let him collaborate with you on this?"

"If you saw how he was literally drooling at the sight of holding it, then you would too," Dark laughed.

"Perhaps," she giggled as she continued to look it over. "All in all, I'd say that this is a rather... unique weapon. Though I am curious as to what this black stuff covering most of it it is."

"Yeeeaahhhh. That's the complicated part."

"So what is it? It almost looks like a-" Luna silenced herself as she looked fearfully from the sword to Dark. "Dark, please tell me this isn't what I think it is."

"... is it really that bad?"

"Of course it's bad! You've created a Living Weapon!"

"I swear it was an accident," he quickly replied, his body now shaking in fear as he shrunk down against the floor. "I didn't even know what a Living Weapon was until after it was created."

"What did you do to it?!"

"I just used my blood to negate the Draconium effects it would have against me. I didn't know that this would happen."

Seeing his shivering and fearful form, Luna closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths to calm herself down. A few moments later, she'd calm herself enough and opened her eyes back to him.

"You really didn't know?"

"I swear I didn't! Like I said before, I never even heard of that kind of weapon until Anvil explained it to me after its creation."

"You can't exactly blame him," Nocturne spoke to Luna, who jumped slightly in surprise.

"You're talking already?" Dark questioned.

"Like I said before, it depends on the situation, and this one seemed to warrant it."

"It can speak?" Luna asked surprisingly.

"Yes, I can speak," he annoyingly answered.

"I think I remember your voice. Aren't you the one they called Nocturne?"

"Yes, again. This brilliant idiot accidentally bound our souls into this weapon, thus allowing me to speak through it."

"So he truly didn't know?"

"I've been in his mind, so I can attest to his claim of stupidity of not knowing," Nocturne agreed, causing Dark to grumble.

"Very well," she sighed. "So then, knowing Anvil, I would assume that he wanted to name it, right?"

"Correct. It's called Death Reaver."

Luna cocked an eyebrow. "And you thought it was a good idea to name it something like that?"

"Well I thought it was fitting," Nocturne defended. "It reminded me of my old weapon."

She turned from the weapon to Dark. "Dark, while I'm surprised that you were able to craft such a weapon, even if by accident, I must ask that you try and refrain from showing this to anypony."

"What about when Twilight ask?" he questioned. "She was curious about it before I left and will surely want to see it now that it's completed."

"Do what you can to try and keep her from seeing it."

Dark sighed. "You know that that's going to be nearly impossible for me to do, right? I mean, if she wanted to, she could have me tell her anything she wanted if she glared at me long enough."

"Just try to do your best."

"You know he's boned, right?" Nocturne whispered to her.

"I know," she sighed before turning back to Dark. "So, your blood did this?"

"I thought that maybe if dragon blood were to be used in its crafting that it could work," Dark explained.

"And it would appear that it did."

"Yeah."

"So, what can you do with it?"

"Besides absorb it directly into my body, talk to Nocturne, and enchant its blade with my magic, nothing else that I know of so far. I'll have to test it out."

"Interesting," she quietly muttered before returning it to Dark and seeing him absorb it. "Just be sure to be careful with it, and for the love of my sister and I, don't practice with it here in Canterlot or anywhere where ponies could see it."

"Yes, Princess," Dark agreed with a bow. "I actually intend to practice with it in Ghastly Gorge. Barely anypony goes there besides maybe the girls to see what I'm up to."

"Good. Now you should probably head on off to bed. I'm sure that today was rather taxing on you with using your blood like that."

"Although my regeneration was able to replenish the blood that I lost, you're right."

"In that case I wish you a goodnight's sleep, Dark."

"Thank you, Princess Luna," Dark returned with one last bow before Shadowporting out of the castle.

With Dark gone and the throne room empty to her again, Luna returned back to her throne and sat down to continue looking over the scrolls provided to her. She was about to continue where she left off, but the thought of a Living Weapon existing in Equestria distracted her.

"He may be a good stallion, but his naivety about this shouldn't be overlooked. Perhaps tomorrow I shall have words with Tia and see what she thinks we should do, though I doubt it would be much."





After a brief and chilly stop at the nearby waterfall to clean off any traces of blood or metal, Dark Shadowported into the entryway of the house. Quietly, he started making his way past the living room towards the kitchen when he heard somepony snoring. At first he just thought that it was Shining, but that was quickly thrown out the window when he heard a few more sets of snoring. Curious as to what the heck was going on, Dark went into the living room to see all of Twilight's friends laying about the place in either their sleeping bags, or in the futon.

Guess I'm not sleeping here tonight, Dark figured as he made out of the living room and back towards the kitchen.

Like Velvet told him, there was a plate of leftovers sitting on the table for him. Making a mental note to thank her again in the morning, Dark used his magic to reheat the food before quickly and silently eating it. Once his meal was done, he quietly rinsed off his plate and placed it in the drying rack before hearing somepony groan. Feeling like he made too much noise, Dark Shadow Melded and went to see if he woke anypony up. Thankfully for him, they were still sound asleep.

Remembering then that he still had to go tell Twilight that he'd returned, Dark made his way up the stair to her room. Dispelling his Shadow Meld, Dark quietly opened the door and walked in. While he would've been apprehensive about entering, she did give him permission to earlier before he left. Quietly closing the door behind him, Dark made his way over to Twilight's sleeping form and gently nudged her while whispering to her.

"Twilight?"

"Mmm? What is it?" she tiredly asked.

"You wanted me to tell you when I got back, remember?"

"Yeah, I do, now come to bed. It's a little chilly tonight."

"But your dad-"

"Don't worry about him, now come on in."

With slight hesitation over her dad, Dark did as he was told and got into bed with her. Once he was settled down, Twilight wasted no time in snuggling up against him as much as she could, sighing as she felt the warmth radiating from him.

"Is it really that chilly to you?" he questioned.

"Mhmm."

Feeling her shiver slightly, Dark wrapped his arms and wings around her, holding her closer to him while also providing her with some extra warmth. Soon after, the events on that day had finally caught up with him, and before he knew it, he was asleep.