Just Dropping In

by Gunsmith


Chapter 13

The next month and a half, six weeks exactly, forty-two days precisely, one-thousand and eight hours in total, passes quickly. My weeks and weekends are generally the same. Every weekday, I get up a few minutes after Rainbow Dash does, her morning disorientation becoming my alarm. I meet her in the kitchen of the tri-story cloud tower, and we eat breakfast together, every morning. We make small talk in the mornings, often too tired to hold up a full-sized conversation, though those do occur every so often. Together Rainbow and I go outside after finishing our meals, her flying up and away to her workplace, me diving down below to mine. I have gotten into the habit of waking myself up fully by diving off of the cloud, spiking my adrenaline each time, the feeling of being able to catch myself while falling and the resulting speed never getting old.

My work at the smithy improves as each day passes. By the end of my first week working there, which was only three days long in total, Forge trusted me with assisting him. At the end of the following week, Forge decided I was ready to begin making items that were worth selling in the shop. I found that the pay system for my job, and through later inquiry to Dash about it, finding the pay system for all of Equestria, was to pay the total amount of earnings to the worker at the end of each week. My first week-and-a-half of apprentice work, and pay suited to apprenticeship, earned me a total of forty bits; I also learned "bits" are the national currency in Equestria, and are simple gold coins stamped with a figure of Princess Celestia's head on one side and Princess Luna's head on the other. After some simple math done after receiving my pay, and some shopping around in Ponyville, I figured out a little more about the economy in Ponyville.

I found that apprenticeship pay, or part-time pay, was based on days worked, since actual hourly-time didn't seem to exist. I was paid five bits per day working as an apprentice; as a full-time employee, my pay was raised to ten bits per day. I thought it to be a simple, yet effective system, though a little communistic in nature. Rainbow Dash helped to clarify that those with much more important jobs, such as doctors or fireponies, were payed much more. From looking at the prices on various goods, I guessed that a single bit was somewhere equivalent to an American dollar; however, the low prices of goods and services led me to think the bit to be more equivalent to an American dollar in the 1960's or so, when the economy was in much better shape than in the 2010's. I realized that based on the excellent pay, part- or full-time, and the stable economy (no horse pun intended), it would be very hard for anyone with any job to be poor or struggling in Equestria.

Despite the fact I was mainly making horseshoes, and, more into the starting weeks of February, ice skates, harnesses, and other Winter-Wrap-Up-related items, my job as a blacksmith for Ponyville remained entertaining and enjoyable. In what spare time I had, while Forge was working on a more complex project or something, I made knives, many of them. Forge even gave me a box at one point to store them in; I now have about three boxes full of knives, no two alike in shape or design. I enjoyed making them; it was relaxing. A quick delve into my memory could bring up some of the knives I had seen on Earth, from combat knives, to stilettos, to machetes, to kukris, and many others. At some points I wondered if Forge questioned my knowledge of so many tools intended to kill, but he never openly did so or seemed to, and often complimented me on my work. I enjoyed having him as a boss; he was less of a boss and more of a coworker, even a friend, as a boss should be.

I gained some more "battle damage" over the course of the six weeks that passed, more often than not first- and second-degree burns on my forelegs, sometimes cuts and sometimes scrapes from the grindstone. Every time, however, I would find the wounds being healed by the following day, no scars, no traces of them ever being there. My pony physiology never ceased to amaze me. One day on a weekend, a Sunday, when Rainbow Dash had been called in to work to help control some weather that was not desired, I decided to visit Ponyville's library. After greeting Twilight Sparkle and Spike and making some small talk, I found as many books on pegasi as I could, just on a wild streak of curiosity. I found that pegasi were internally much different from earth ponies and unicorns. The bones of pegasi shared properties with those of birds, being extremely lightweight due to them being hollow. Pegasus ponies also had a natural magic that allowed them to manipulate weather of all kinds through the ability to interact with clouds; I found this to be the reason I and other pegasi could walk on clouds, shape them into structures, extract water from them, and so on. I also read a book on pegasi history, and some skimming led me to the conclusion that pegasi had had a very militaristic or businesslike outlook on society, in a manner similar to the Greeks or Romans.

Each weekday I would return home around sunset, usually only a minute or two ahead of or behind Rainbow Dash. We ate dinner together, as we did breakfast, relating our days to each other, how they went, and so on. Each night she and I would traverse the cloud stairs of her home, her heading up to her bedroom, me breaking off into the living room.

The weekends were always welcome, even if my weekdays were excellent. I slept in every weekend, finding her to do the same most of the time. A few weekends I attempted to begin teaching her how to cook, and by the time the fifth weekend rolled around, Rainbow could make pancakes that were actually edible. We spent most of the two days off flying around, her showing me a new trick here and there, me practicing some simple stunts of my own. Sometimes we would trot around Ponyville, usually to visit Dash's friends or to pick up groceries. The rest of the time not spent flying wherever and however we wanted or wandering about the town was spent just doing aimless things, like sitting outside on a cloud and watching other clouds lazily pass by, or pony-watching. I enjoyed just being in her company. Rainbow Dash would always be cheerful and playful, attempting to prank or scare me when she could, I doing the same. I found myself wanting the weekends to come quickly, not to get a break from working, but only to spend time with the rainbow-maned pegasus. When I let my thoughts drift, they would either go to her or to my past life that seemed so far away.

As the days passed by, nearing a certain day, I found myself both anticipating and dreading that day, not entirely sure why in either case.

***

Somewhat ironically, I think, I awake not to a sound, but because there is no sound. Something like that. I think my body's gotten so used to hearing the thumping of a semi-impaired Rainbow Dash in the mornings that the silence has awoken it, since it seems so out of place. I open my eyes halfway, glancing around. The room is sideways--oh, right. I roll off the cloud couch, sinking into the floor a little as I land on it. I wobble a little, my legs suddenly taking on my body's weight, before completely gaining my balance. I take another look around the room, which is right-side-up this time. There is no sign of the cyan blue mare I seek. I pause and take in my breath, holding it as I listen carefully for ten seconds or so. I hear...nothing. No, wait, there is...a very quiet crunching noise, coming from the floor below me. It sounds too quiet for Rainbow, but I decide to investigate, feeling hungry, anyways.

After padding my way down the stairs, I enter the kitchen and look around. The only other being I see in the fluffy white kitchen is Tank the tortoise. He is perched on a counter, chewing a small piece of a carrot that sits in front of him. I watch as he slowly leans his head forward, taking another bite and generating the small crunching sound I had heard. I frown in thought and a mild degree of confusion. Where is she? In response, my mind thinks about the conversation I had with her the previous night before we went to sleep.

"Oh, Ferrum, tomorrow I've gotta go in to work early. Get yourself some breakfast, and make sure Tank gets some, too, okay?" says Rainbow Dash.

I smile and nod. "Can do. Night, Rainbow Dash."

She returns the smile kindly. "Night, Ferrum." She turns and begins trotting towards the stairs, and I follow her upward.

That answered my question fairly well. I wonder for a moment why she might have had to go in early to her job, but remember that Mother Nature acts upon her own whims. I trot over to the small icebox, grabbing an apple in my teeth. I set the shiny red apple down on the low-sitting cloud table, and am about to go in for a bite, but am stopped by a nagging feeling. I close my jaws and return my head to an upright position, staring off out the window in thought. I go through a few things in my mind. I know where Rainbow Dash is. I am on time for work, judging by the low-sitting sun. Tank is fed. What am I missing...?

I attempt to remember the date. It's February, 2013 A.D. in Earth years. I think to myself that I ought to stop trying to remember the year, being that it doesn't really matter anymore. What's in February...what day is it? On the fifth I had made my thirtieth knife, a hunting blade with a serrated edge and a five inch blade. That was a week or so ago, I think, so it should be the middle of February.

Upon this thought I remember what day it is. It's February fourteenth. Valentine's Day. Or more, Hearts and Hooves Day. I let out a sigh. I'm not one of those people, or ponies, who absolutely despised Valentine's/Hearts and Hooves Day, but I don't particularly like it, either. Mainly, it reminds me of what a lonely bastard I am, as it likely does for quite a few others. A much more lonely bastard at this point, my brain reassures me cheerfully. My thoughts dart to my family, even some of my past friends. Gone. I find myself not feeling sad, really, but more...empty. I snort quietly, maybe in disgust, or even sick humor, I can't really tell what. I bite into the apple that has been patiently awaiting its destiny of being eaten. I focus on the crunching, and my memories dissipate; the thought of the date does not, though. I mull over the present holiday a little, just repeating the date and the holiday's name in my head. February fourteenth. Hearts and Hooves Day.

I glance out the window I sit across from again as I chew the sweet-tasting fruit. An image displays itself in my mind, one that has been doing so more and more as of recent. Though she is not in my sight, I see Rainbow Dash, her magenta eyes friendly, looking at me, a soft smile on her lips, multicolored hair streaking down her cyan face and neck. I smile at the thought of her. I do not think anything else, only admiring the vision in my head. After a moment I realize where I am again, and her image dissipates as well. I realize I should probably hurry up and get to work, wondering how long I was thinking. I hastily chomp down the rest of my apple, depositing the core in the trash can before saying a goodbye to Tank and pushing out the door.

***

I press my head against the door of the stone building, pushing it inward. Cold winter air and the bustle of the town square of Ponyville gives way to a warm room and silence. I look towards the counter in the middle of the front room, but I don't see the gray pegasus that usually stands behind it. I feel my face twist a little in confusion. I trot slowly towards the back of the room, looking around at the shiny metal tools and trinkets on the walls around me as I do. Some of them are mine, notably the knives. Forge had asked if he could display a few of my knives made in my spare time, and I happily agreed; it wasn't like I would be using them. I maneuver around the counter, pushing through the next door into a room warmer than the last.

I glance around, searching my somewhat-dim workplace. My eyes lock on to the only movement in the room, Forge twisting a slowly-heating piece of steel over the pit of fire bearing his name. I take a few steps closer to the forge, and see him glance up at me, raising his eyebrows and head for a moment as a greeting. He returns his focus to the piece of metal in the tongs he holds with his jaws, which is now glowing a red color. The color of the hot steel tells me Forge will be standing there for a few more minutes; I know that the metal needs to be a bright orange, almost yellow in glow, before it can be tampered with properly. If the metal is red, it is still too hard to hammer or shape, and if it is white, then it is close to melting (or already is melting). I turn away, intending to find myself something to do until he is free to talk.

I trot over to my designated workbench. Boxes with knives layered inside them sit neatly under and to the side of the steel table. Some tools lay spread out, side by side, on top of its metal surface. My latest knife project is gripped in the vise that is built in to the workbench. I had recalled a more odd style of knife, almost a shortsword, known as a "tanto", which did mean "short sword" in Japanese. I decided upon its design earlier in the week, figuring some experience in making double-edged blades would be good for me. I lean forward and grip the handle of the vise with my teeth, twisting my head a few degrees counter-clockwise to loosen its grip. I grab the handle of the knife and pull it free of the vise, and begin carefully making my way to the grinding wheel on the opposite side of the torch-and-forge-lit stone room, watching Forge and the door to avoid stabbing someone by mistake.

The grinding wheel hasn't been kind to me, and has given me many scrapes on the forelegs, shoulders, and face. I can't seem to avoid getting nicked by it every so often. I begin pedaling one side at a steady rate, angling the partially made tanto towards the spinning stone. Sparks glance off, most away from me, but one reflects back and hits my forehead. I pause, making sure I haven't caught fire--I was informed by Forge at one point that fur and manes could be fairly flammable, as he knew by personal experience--but luckily I have not, and continue to grind down the silver metal I hold in my teeth.

After a few minutes of sharpening, the second edge of the blade is created. I set the knife down on the floor momentarily, looking from the left edge, to the right edge, comparing them in symmetry. Both appear to have the same angle and sharpness, so I am content, and pick up the tanto again. I move around the grinding wheel to the micro-gem-studded belts that are pinned against the wall. I rub the blade of the knife up and down the custom-made cloth, occasionally flipping the knife in my mouth to sharpen the other blade, or turning to my opposite side to sharpen the other side of each blade. Once completing this, I look cross-eyed at the tanto in my mouth, turning it with my jaws to see both sides and both blades. It appears complete, but I want to test it out anyways.

I return to the opposite wall, noting Forge as I trot across the room. He is hammering the piece of metal he had been heating on a side of the forge, flattening the bar in preparation to create a sword of some sort. I reach my workbench, sidestepping over to a cardboard box beside it, half-filled with shaped steel. I flip my new blade in my mouth a little, then lean down steadily towards a side of the box. The tanto begins slicing easily through the edge of the cardboard, and a flip to the other blade shows the same results. Two more slices have appeared in the side of this box, joined by many others all over every box I own. I smile with pride in my accomplishment, and set the newly made weapon down in the box it cut into only moments ago. As I pull my head back up from the box, I begin wondering about my next project. Maybe along the lines of Japanese weapons, a katana? I haven't tried making a full-blown longsword like that, yet...

My thoughts are interrupted by some clanging elsewhere in the room. I turn to the source of the noise, seeing Forge inspecting a large sword blade he has dropped on the floor of the smithy. I trot over to where he is, also looking down at the fresh blade. It has no edges on it, yet, but is obviously the blade for a very large sword. I think of vikings and the swords they would carry while I look at it. That thing's gotta weigh at least forty pounds...

Forge turns to me, the hint of a smile crossing his face. "I'm going to try to make a greatsword. For show, really. These things are hard to pick up, probably impossible to actually wield. I've only made a couple before, none as big as this one, though."

I chuckle in amazement. "Nice," I say. "How're you going to sharpen this thing?"

The gray pegasus laughs. "I have no idea." He scoots the large hunk of metal out of the way, turning back to me after he does so. "Got a question for you."

"Shoot," I reply.

"You got a fillyfriend?" Forge asks, grinning a little.

I'm somewhat startled by the question. It seems very offhand (offhoof?), especially coming from my boss. "What?"

He chuckles before continuing. "A fillyfriend. A mare? You know it's Hearts and Hooves Day?"

Mental face-hoof. Did I really forget that fast? Damn. I'm not sure how to answer, and I don't know why I'm not sure. "I, uh..."

Forge cuts me off, cocking his head to one side and just smiling now. "There is somepony. Not your fillyfriend, but there is a mare." His head returns to a normal upright position, and he begins grinning a little again, awaiting my reply.

I still can't seem to find a logical reply. "Uhh...how...?" I manage to get out, my own thoughts and remaining surprise mottling my thoughts.

"I can tell, kid. Got that look about'cha." His grin returns to a smile, and he looks a little more seriously at me. "Listen, Ferrum. Take the rest of the day off. We don't have any orders today, anyways, pieces of metal usually aren't great Hearts and Hooves Day gifts, and I'm thinking we've made everypony's shoes and other things for the Wrap-Up. You have some bits lying around?"

I'm still attempting to recover, but I figure I can answer his question with certainty. I silently nod a few times. I recall my supply of bits sitting beside Rainbow Dash's couch in her home, where I had been sleeping. I had been telling myself to find a bank or something, but hadn't gotten around to it. Multiple bags, made of cloth, sat in a pile resting on the cloud floor of the second story, ten bits in each bag. Even with helping Rainbow Dash buy groceries on a weekly basis as of recently, my supply of Equestria's currency remained plentiful. I figure retirement is a choice in this society; stay with a job until you're too old to work because you love what you do, or get out early and enjoy your life with more than enough money to sustain yourself.

Forge nods, since he is already smiling. "Good," he continues. "Go buy her something nice, some flowers or something. Mares love that kind of stuff. Now go, alright?" He tilts his head towards the exit, motioning for me to leave.

I nod my head a little shakily. "Thanks," I say, seemingly unable to say much more. I trot towards the exit of the room, trying to focus. What did he mean that "look" about me? How would he tell? Why did he let me go so early? My mind continues to swarm me with questions I can't currently answer as I press one side of my face against the door leading outside. A rush of cold wind hits my face as I step outside, but it feels good. It's cool and crisp, and I take a few deep breaths of it. I look around, seeing only shops and ponies around me in Ponyville's center. I turn to my left, then take another left around the side of the smithy I work at, heading down an alley created by the stone building and a neighboring shop.

I trot out of the alley, continuing to walk forward, getting as far away from the multitude of ponies clustered in the town square as I can. After a minute of weaving in and out of alleyways, I find myself at a frozen river. I look around; I have reached one of the outskirts of Ponyville, which is created by the river. A bridge crosses over from the town onto what I see is the Apple family's farm, and sits a few yards away from me. The air is generally quiet, only the distant sounds of ponies conversing and going about their morning business and the nearby sounds of ponies within their homes filling it. I sigh, pleased by the peace, and sit down on the bank of the icy river, which reflects some of the morning sun off its frozen surface.

I decide to sort some things out. Or at least, try to sort some things out. What did Forge mean, saying I had a "look" about me? my mind repeats. Did I have a "look" about me? How would how I look indicate I liked someone? Maybe it comes with age, life experience. I wonder for a moment if Forge had a wife, or a girlfriend--fillyfriend. Maybe that was how he could tell. But tell what? What could he tell about me? Go back, what was he talking about?

He was talking about Hearts and Hooves Day, today. Forge had asked me if I had a fillyfriend. I didn't exactly reply, and he said he could tell I didn't, but that there was someone. So he thought that I looked like I had someone I cared about, as more than a friend? My thoughts freeze on that question for a moment, frozen like the river I sit by. I hear some ponies talking amongst themselves a couple of streets behind me. A familiar image enters my thoughts as I stare at the ice, one I had seen earlier in the day. A cyan blue face, a mane of every color in a rainbow, large and friendly magenta eyes, an equally warm smile. I see only the image in my head for a moment, and a smile makes its way to my face upon seeing Rainbow Dash. I hear a distant voice in my head, repeating my earlier thought. He thought that I looked like I had someone I cared about, as more than a friend.

Do I?

The question seems to echo in my thoughts. I stare blankly at the reflective surface of the ice, the whitish color tinted yellow by the sun. I am suddenly flooded with memories. All of them are of Rainbow Dash. Seeing her for the first time, while she taught me to fly, during Hearth's Warming Eve, in the mornings, at night, soaring beside me in the sky, laying with me on clouds, of her wonderful smell, her warm touch, her scratchy voice and laugh that I loved to hear. I see Rainbow's soft, silky mane, filled with color, her friendly face, her warm smile, of her bright magenta eyes that glistened with friendliness and determination. I think of the elegance and power every aspect of Dash's body displays, and her ability to show that power and elegance in the air, with stunts that were all of intimidating, awe-inspiring, and beautiful to see. The last memory is of her personality, her brash and bold attitude on the outside, yet a loyal, kind, and friendly one within.

The memories fade back into the recesses of my mind. I regain my vision and my focus. The river continues to sit motionless in front of me, snow covering the ground all around me equally still. I hear a few more soft noises around me, those of ponies beginning their mornings and going about their daily routines. I feel as if I know the answer to my own question, but...no...I can't. I'm different. I'm not a pony. I mean, I am, but I don't feel as if I am, not mentally. I still feel human. Why do I like her? She's a pony! A once-fictional character to me. Is there something wrong with me? I can't answer myself. I feel normal, like nothing is wrong with me. Why do I feel like I shouldn't like her, then? Why do I feel like I...can't? Or shouldn't?

Would it be wrong? The other part of me fighting with myself tries to find something that would imply yes, but it can't find anything, other than the fact Rainbow Dash is a pony. And so are you, I tell myself. I know I am technically, but...I can't get around the feeling I am human, though I am not.

Is there any difference?

Difference?

Difference from her being a human.

...

She has a personality, like a human, right?

...yes.

And so do you. She is a pony, right?

Yes.

And so are you.

I continue to stare blankly at the frozen water I sit on the bank of the river. Is it that simple? She is a human personality in a pony body, as I am? I remind myself not in the same sense, since I was actually human at a point. Still...I can't find anything wrong, as much as I am trying to. You know it's real, what you feel for her. You can't deny it. I weakly reply to myself that I could, but know I would only end up failing to do so. Go on, say it. Say what you know is true. I take in a breath, letting the chilly air out slowly. It feels nice in my throat, and is relaxing.

"I love her...I love Rainbow Dash," I whisper to myself. The voice inside my head disappears, and my mind feels blank. My own voice echoes within my head. I don't feel ashamed, as I had before when I would question myself. I feel happy, relaxed, satisfied. I realize my mind doesn't feel blank, it feels...clear. I stand up slowly, checking my backside for snow as I do. I thrash my tail a bit to shake the flakes of snow off of it, and focus on what to do next.