//------------------------------// // Getting and upgrade // Story: The New Life of Shadow Ironsword // by ShadowIronsword //------------------------------// The steady, yet muffled, clop of hooves was all the noise between Amber and I as we walked towards Ironsword forge. I hope dad’s at the forge. It’ll be easier to get the whole argument over quickly. “So, why do you seem so apprehensive? Don’t you like your dad?” Amber spoke softly eying my expression. I gave a shocked gasp, “Of course, I love my dad! I’m just not looking towards the inevitable argument that’s going to happen when I tell him why I’m back.” I sighed and looked down. “He’s a very headstrong pony, and is a strong believer in taking your problems head-on.” “Well, I can’t disagree with you there. Though I was curious, why did you leave Ponyville early? Valor said you’d be there for at least another two months.” I gave a heavy sigh and looked away from her, towards the Cloudsdale stadium. “Did Val ever tell you how we initially met?” “Sort of, he gave a very short description that ponies were here looking to hurt you because of what you were. Beyond that, he hasn’t really elaborated.” “Yeah that’s the condensed version. One of those ponies was named Smokey. While in Ponyville I saw him, and he confronted me.” I gave a bitter chuckle, “The funny thing? He didn’t strike first I did. It was out of fear and anger, but it was still inexcusable, and he made me pay for it. I got my flank kicked, hard, so I flew. I flew as fast as I could away from Ponyville. I crashed somewhere miles outside the town, where I set up camp and tried to nurse my injuries. Once I had healed enough, and had a very basic splint I headed back to Ponyville general and got a proper cast for my foreleg. Then started working my way here, to Cloudsdale.” “Well, if you ask me, you acted like a dumbass.” She gave me a serious look. “If what Valor tells me is true you’re one of the top fighters in Equestria, right?” I gave a solemn nod. “So then, why?” I looked up, stunned. “Why what?” She gave me an unamused look. “You know exactly what I’m talking about.” When I still gave no sign of understanding, she continued, “Why didn’t you just kick his flank back? And for that matter, why did you run? From what I hear, they were pretty accepting of you there.” I looked down, “Because Twilight asked me not to hurt him. Then she asked me to stay, but I’ve seen that situation too many times to not be paranoid. It’s easy to accept somepony when you don’t know what they are, or what they’ve done. I’ve been told that load of bull before, and I won’t be caught in that trap again.” We fell into a kind of awkward silence for the rest of the walk to Ironsword Forge. I walked into the main reception area of my dad’s forge and I immediately feel a weight lifted off of my shoulders. It wasn’t anything special or extravagant, but it functioned and could hold over thirty ponies comfortably with a row of cushioned seats on the far wall from the entrance. On the wall to the right of the entrance was the reception desk, where a brown mare would normally sit. Funny, she must be on break. Behind the desk was a pair of doors, one led to the break room. The other led to the design room, where dad would personally come with a design with a customer. On the left wall from the entrance was the training rooms, or at least that’s what I’d used them for when I was living here. In actuality they were rooms designed to test forged weapons for balance and customer appreciation. Dad’s weird that way, if the customer isn’t happy with a weapon, or armor, he’ll trash it and start again no charge to them. During my time in Cloudsdale this forge was my one refuge where I could come and be myself without worry of strange looks and whispered scathing remarks. Amber looked over to me and gave a light chuckle, “looks like somepony is happy to be here.” “Hmm?” I looked over to her I couldn’t help a giddy grin from making its way onto my face. “Yeah, I just feel so much safer in here than I do anywhere else. I mean this is where I really started training to become a duelist. I would wake up, train, eat, then collapse in bed. Then start all over again the next day.” “Sounds like fun for someone who’s dream it is to duel. For me personally it seems a bit pointless for ponies to be fighting for no reason, but I can respect when someone’s just built to fight, you can’t pull them away from it. To do so would be like telling them part of them is wrong. I couldn’t do that to anyone.” I looked sideways to her. “You say that like you knew someone who was a fighter. Family, or a friend?” She gave a little squeak. “That obvious, huh? It was an old friend from back in basic schooling. The teacher there was, well, less than receptive of her wishes in her career.” She got a sort of sad smile on her face. “Heh, she would literally fight everypony in school. It didn’t matter who the were, where they were from. What’s funny is her cutie mark wasn’t any sort you’d expect for a pony built for fighting. It was a heart with a wreath around it. I honestly couldn’t tell you it’s meaning, and she couldn’t tell you either. She got it when he was very young. She always said-” A very loud crash came from the training room near the back. Amber and I shared a look for a moment, “looks like you’ll have to save that story for later, Amber.” I rushed to the first door leading to a long hallway, ran down to the end and opened the door on the left. The lights were out in the room. Tried flicking the switch with my wing, but it stayed off. “Damn lights. Dad? Val? You in there?” Amber appeared behind me with a quizzical look on her face. “Um Valor? Mr. Ironsword?” She lit up her horn and a small ball of light appeared in the center of the room. I had to pull one of my forelegs up to my mouth to stop from bursting out laughing. Dad was laying in the far left corner with the bucket of water firmly stuck on his head. On top of him was Val trying desperately to disentangle himself from my dad. Once he saw that there was a new light source he turned to us, he blanched turned his head down to the ground and spoke in a voice that would have made Fluttershy jealous, “You speak of this to anyone outside of this room, and I swear to Celestia’s holy sun I will destroy you.” I couldn’t hold it in any longer a howl of laughter erupted from me that was so loud the receptionist from the front came back to check on us. She took one look in the room rolled her eyes and went right back out. This only served to add to my laughter and add a new voice to my own. Amber was slowly devolving to a fit of giggles, trying desperately to stop them from coming. “N-now, Shadow I’m sure there’s a perfectly good reason for-” “For my dad and Val to be tangled together in a dark room, alone?” I raised my eyebrows questioningly at her, this served to break the damn for her and she soon devolved into howling laughter. I looked back to the corner and saw that my dad was laying unconscious in the corner. “Maybe we ought to see to dad though, he’s not exactly a spring chicken anymore.” “Hang on lemme take off the weapons he was testing for me.” Val headed over into the corner and sparked his horn to life, picking my dad up and taking off…whatever was on his wings. Val finished his task and set dad down, turned back towards me and saw that I was staring at the contraptions. “Like ‘em? They’re something I’ve been developing for almost a month now. I’d hoped to finish them before you got home, but hey That’s how life goes, right?” “Um, they’re cool, I guess, but what are they? I mean that’s not like any blade I’ve seen before.” They were a sort of collar-looking thing that ran all the way along the wing, with a blade that extended past the wingtip. It looked like the blade could retract back into the device itself, but I wouldn’t know. “Oh? Well, you know I’m not very creative with naming things, but I think I did a decent job here. I call them ‘Wingblades’. They’re sort of gauntlet that fits over and straps onto the wing. It has a blade hidden inside that can be brought out through flicking the wings outward, like so.” He mimicked a motion of a wing extending causing the blades to drop out and lock in place. “It would add a whole new dimension to fighting for you! You wouldn’t have to worry about unicorns being able to slip past your guard so easily when on the ground, and be able to do fly-by cuts when doing aerial combat!” “Woah, Val, that sounds awesome! But, wouldn’t that kind of thing get really heavy and hard to fly with?” Val’s smirk only seemed to widen, like he’d already addressed this point. Of course, it’s Val. I rolled my eyes. “Ah, it would! That is, if it wasn’t made of a super-light composite steel that, with training, will feel like nothing at all is on your wing. Best of all? The blades themselves are made of a special material, i’ll see if you can guess what it is.” He levitated the wingblades over to me with the blades extended outwards. I touched the blade with my paw, it had a sort of unnatural feeling, like it was a void in the normal pressure of the air. A lesson my mother came back to me from my days in training there. “The atmosphere in Equus, especially in Equestria is very highly charged with magic. When that magic is taken away, like when a nearby unicorn is casting a powerful spell you will feel a drop in pressure.” I gasped, it was cold-iron. “Dude, is this cold-iron?” He gave a muffled laugh. “Not quite, Shadow. It’s cold-steel. A lighter, and stronger version of cold-iron.” Amber came up next to Val with a sort of frown-smirk type look on her face. “So this is what’s been keeping you so distracted for the past two weeks?” “Um, yeah.” He looked down in thought. “Coulda sworn I told you about this when we first met.” “Well, now you’re done. So, you can come home, right?” She looked up at him with a half-lidded expression. Val seemed oblivious to his mare’s intentions. “Weeelll, I still need to fit Shadow for a set and-” Amber shut his mouth with her tail as she walked forward and wiggled her hips a bit. Val’s face was priceless. His face seemed to be attempting to replicate a lighthouse. With a flustered, and notably huskier voice he continued, “Or I could take a couple days to rest, then get started on that.” He started to walk forward then stopped and looked to me. I chuckled and shook my head. “Don’t let me get in between you and your mare, imma be here for a few days Val.” I lifted my casted foreleg up. “Gotta wait for this thing to finish healing before I even think of heading back out of Cloudsdale.” He gave a solemn nod of his head. “I’ll make it up to you Shadow.” “Oooohhhh Vaaalooorrrr?” Amber’s voice drifted down the hall. Val gave me one last look to me. “Don’t keep your mare waiting, Val.” “Coming, Amber!” With that he darted out the door and down the hall. I looked to the middle of the room, where my dad laid. “Welp, dad, let’s get you somewhere more comfortable while you’re recovering.” I leaned down and slowly shuffled under him. When I was sufficiently under him, I stood up and took him out of the forge waving to the reception pony on my way out. “Tell anybody that comes in that he got sick and had to take the rest of the day off. Thanks! I’ll see about him giving you extra for the rest of the day.” She gave an appreciative nod and went back to her work. I was sitting in my dad’s house, reading one of his many personal books, when I heard a knock at the door. I got up and answered the door, grumbling all the way about it being too late for anybody to come visiting. I opened the door and was surprised to see Val standing on my doorstep. “I thought you were busy with your marefriend Val?” I asked a little concern slipping into my voice. “Oh, well happy to see you again too, Shadow.” He gave a soft chuckle. “No, Amber and I decided that we’d better take a break from-” “Bucking like bunnies?” I interjected. He nodded his head back and forth, in a conceding fashion. “Not how I would have put it. But hey, when you’ve got a mare like that!” He bounced his eyebrows at me a little bit. “Anyways came by to check on Vanguard. Wanted to make sure I didn’t hurt the old stallion too bad.” “I’m not so old that I can’t take a young sprout like yourself.” My dad’s gruff voice came from the stairwell a few rooms away. He appeared from around the corner and his walk had a noticeable limp to it, but he was moving at least. “I’m fine, Valor. I’m not so old that one bad spar is gonna send me to the grave.” He gave a cheeky grin, his red coat shifting and wrinkling slightly. He looked over to me. “Oh, don’t look at me like that Shadow. You’ve still got some explaining to do as to why you’ve come back so soon.” “Well, Vanguard-” My dad cut him off with a raised hoof. “I said I wanted him to explain, not you Valor. While I appreciate you covering my sons flank most of the time, I would appreciate you stay out of this one.” He turned his eyes back to me. “Look, Shadow, I’m not gonna be angry with you, but I would like to know why you came home so early.” He gave me a pleading look. I sighed and became very entranced in a crack in the floor. I told him everything that had happened in Ponyville, including the fact that I’d struck first out of fear when Smokey came up to us at the cafe. “I’m sorry dad, I know all the lessons you taught me about not starting a fight under any circumstances, only to-” “Shadow.” That one word was all it took to shut me up. The strange thing was there was a sort of strained anger in his voice. “Look at me.” I slowly looked up and met my dad’s eyes. To my surprise there was compassion and love along with anger in his deep blue eyes. I could tell, somehow, that the anger wasn’t directed at me, though. “You did everything you could in that situation. A mind that is panicked is not one that can be expected to be rational. But, come on, Shadow. You could have at least finished the fight you started, words of a princess aside. What was the second lesson I taught you?” “If I’m in a fight finish it, or get finished. No half ways, no backing out.” I said resignedly. “That’s right, no son of mine is gonna go around gallivanting around and being known as a quitter.” He gave a firm nod of his head. “Now, let’s all head out and have a nice dinner, I think we all need it after today's events. Oh, and you’re welcome to invite Amber along Valor. You’re practically part of the family anyways, why not add her?” He gave a suggestive wink. Val blanched a bit at that. “You’re not suggesting I m-m-marry her already? Vanguard, I’ve barely known her for a month!” “And yet you two are bucking like bunnies in spring.” I threw a sideways glance at Val. “Seems she’s already got her claws pretty deep in ya buddy.” Val pushed up into my face and gave me a playful glare and raising his eyebrow, almost daring me to make the first move. I picked up my paw to poke him in the chest. “Boop.” I promptly got a smack upside the head, same went for Val a second later. “Now stop that you two.” Dad shook his head with feigned annoyance, but couldn’t hide the smile that slipped onto his face. “Come on, we’ll stop by your place Valor, and pick up Amber.