What matters is Personality
Sorry it took so long, but when my external drive with all the chapters died on me, I spent 2 weeks trying to bring it back. No luck, so I had to rewrite it again and I know this chapter (along with the next 3ish) isn't the same as what I wrote a few months ago. My PC can't seem to install windows 7 without corrupting a driver someplace, so its still crashing on me from time to time. Excuses are excuses but lemme just say I didn't feel like writing until I could get another external drive to save everything on. Simply because my computer was being unreliable.
Also when I used the website to write it seems to lag, and its kind of annoying really. I didn't wanna deal with it. 
Anyway, sorry for the Delay and I'm gonna start writing again.
Downhearted - Pegboard Nerds
So dont be downhearted, I'm picking up the pieces here. 
Also please tell me of any mistakes with grammar spelling etc. Its been awhile since I last wrote seriously. I'm sure I need to relearn a few things.
Glarin looked down at the little Kobold and patted him... or her on the head. He wasn't quite sure.
"Soon, but I will have to go Topside and make some arrangements."
"Arrangements!? So we can take them by Suprise? Take back what should be ours!" Glarin grumbled at the prospect of them becoming violent.
"There is no need for such drastic action. It has been a long time. They've forgotten all about you, about this place. You'd be taking revenge on the innocent generation that has no knowledge of such a dark past. I'm sure they would all be appalled by the mere thought of a slave."
The Kobolds remained silent unsure of what to say next for a time.
"You'll come back, yes?" Glarin gave out a hearty chuckle
"Of course I'll come back. Listen if you follow that tunnel all the way, you'll reach my home. It exits out into a room full of mining equipment and what not. But it's part of my home. You're all more than welcome inside it. I'll inform everyone on my end to be hospitable to you."
"You're home? A Mór ones home?" All of the kobolds began to whisper amongst themselves with some excited sounding yipping also being thrown into the mix.
"Aye, it's my home. I'll leave a pony that works for me by the mines exit for you guys. Don't be afraid to ask him anything, ok?" The kobolds all looked at each other and began to murmur again.
Glarin began to head out toward the exit after giving them a wave. He would need to come back and look through all this old stuff another day. Might still be something useable hidden deep within the old underground dwarven Hold. Hopefully the Kobolds haven't completely destroyed the place over the years.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
While Glarin was on his way to Twilights house to ask her some very important History questions. The guard Gleam was placed on the job of pony emissary.
He recalled what Glarin had told him. The words of wisdom for dealing with this new unknown lizard-like race.
'Don't leave your helmet on. Let em see that ugly four eyed mug of yours...' He shook his head and sighed.
"Like that's gonna help me...I'm not that ugly am I?" He said to himself. Yet he got a response anyway in a small voice.
"Seen uglier." Gleam turned around to see a kobold standing out in the open hands on hips. Gleam stood up straight and gave the Kobold a Salute which caused him to flinch slightly.
"Gleam At your Service. I was told to help you in any way I can." The kobold looked him up and down and waved a hand to the side signaling more to come over. The Kobolds began to take turns saying each part of the sentence. Almost like they did it all the time
"You Unicorn. Yes? Can you. Do Magic? NICE MAGICS! GREAT MAGICS!" Gleam broke his salute and relaxed a bit. Even though they looked rather mean, they were capable of quite a few facial expressions. They were obviously pleading and he wondered how old they were. He looked up back to the tunnel and saw several slightly larger Kobolds giving him a death glare.
They were watching his every move. He heard briefly of what happened in there from Rocky, Shifty, and Ace. It seemed they hated ponies, yet these smaller ones, didn't seem to mind the fact he was a pony. All they could think about was magic tricks. He couldn't blame them, earth ponies and pegasi loved to watch simple magic shows, while finding a unicorn who did was much harder.
"I do know a few magic tricks, and there's a few I've been working on myself..." Gleam took off his helmet and set it down so he could see around the room better. Artistic magic for entertainment always required the most visual concentration.
The kobolds all looked on at him with wonder. When they saw his glasses the Kobolds in the back all stood at attention, and then had a sudden change in demeanor. They lost the scowls on their faces. Gleam couldn't understand why.
You see, Glarin failed to mention that all dwarven Master Crafters and Artisans wore glasses or goggles. And it was well documented within that old hold, those who wore such things deserved your respect.
You see it wasn't just history they left behind. But an education of sorts as well. These kobolds were about as civilized as most ponies.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Glarin was slapping the door to the library yelling all the while. He was obviously upset.
"TWILIGHT! We need to talk!" Glarins heavy hand suddenly hit air as the door swung open.
"I heard the first 51 Glarin! I was just finishing the Chapter! ...I uh, Still haven't gotten into the habit of answering the door right away. Spike always did that..." Glarin cleared his throat.
"Well kids must leave the nest at some point. Perhaps you should go make another?" Twilight looked at Glarin utterly confused.
"What? I hatched him from an egg! When I was just a filly! I can't just replace him!" Glarin lifted an eyebrow. As Twilight looked at the ground lifting each of her legs in a nervous manner.
"Oohh...I was told you made him in some magical experiment with a green dragon and your DNA, whatever DNA is. Some of the guys down at the Watering Hole were talkin bout it a few days ago..." Twilights calmed down and realized she was talking to Glarin. He still couldn't read and still hasn't found a reason to learn. So she took a deep breath and just accepted it.
"Something like that yes. Anyway, I'm sure you're not here just to chat?" Twilight looked at Glarin with a slightly hopeful look on her face.
"Actually, I have just one question. How old are you?" Twilight looked at him confused.
"You know, some might consider such a question rude, but I turned 29 just last month." Glarin nodded his head and put his hand on her withers.
"I forgot how young your race does most things... My mother wouldn't let me stray far from the house till I was 20. 'Stay in the Yard or I'll break your legs too!' Mother was always a little overprotective during harsh times." Twilight pursed her lips together in thought.
"I'm sorry, but did you need anything else? I would like to get back to reading my book." Glarin shook his head and waved his hand.
"I apologize Princess Twilight, but I found a bunch of friendly Kobolds while digging. I was wondering if you could help me with some things." Twilight once again became confused.
"Whats a Kobold? I've never heard of them before. I've never seen any record of such things before either..." Twilight suddenly froze with her eyes locked open and whispered "...unknown creature..."
"Well unknown to you maybe, but I've learned all about them." Twilight teleported away and less than 2 seconds later appeared back in front of Glarin with a saddle bag that had paper hanging out the side of it.
"Take me to them! I want to know everything!" Glarin cleared his throat.
"Well alright Princess but, there's a few things I need to tell you before I bring you to them."
As Glarin explained to Twilight in detail of them, she suddenly lost all of her enthusiasm about meeting them face to face. She lifted a hoof to her horn as she looked at her wings.
"They're going to hate me aren't they?" Twilight laid down on the floor as she got a downtrodden look on her face. She looked up when Glarin began to run his fingers through her hair.
"They're going to really have to try Princess. I haven't seen a flower as beautiful as yourself fail to make someone smile." She began to push her head into his hand. Causing Glarin to pull it back much to her displeasure.
"Come now Princess. I'm sure they would be thrilled to speak with you. You're royalty after all." Twilight smiled as she sighed, following behind Glarin as he walked back to his home.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gleam wasn't sure when the rest of the guard, parents and children came into the room to see him do his magic show. He was also surprised to see that everyone fit into the room with the mines entrance. But then most of them were sitting upon the equipment. While many of the pegasi had figured out the clouds inside the cloud mattresses could be taken out and used to float around with. Their cloth 'containers' had a spell that kept them from floating apprently.
Gleam had done a few minor tricks before to entertain some of the children. So they knew what to expect, and that he always had something new every time he did a trick. His standards of simple were also far from being so.
Currently, he was using a rod of solid blue light to "paint" various creatures with great detail and diffrent colors. When the creatures were complete they would come to life and begin to walk around. After he moved they would fall in line behind him until he had a group of colorful light creatures following him.
"Excuse me young Miss..." Gleam leaned down to look at one of the smaller kobolds sitting in the front. "Can you hold this for me? I promise it won't hurt you." The Kobold looked around and rubbed her hands together before reaching out for the small glowing light Gleam levitated out for her to grasp.
She took the light in her hands and looked at it with utter amazement on her face.
"When I give the signal I want you to throw it straight up and into the air, ok?" She got a smile on her scaley face and nodded her head up and down. Promoting Gleam to smile as he turned around and trotted as far away as possible.
"Ok, give it a good toss now!" Using both hands, the little kobold threw upwards at a slight angle causing it to go up and behind them. But it didn't matter, the trick worked just fine anyway.
Each of the creatures that stood near Gleam began to charge at the glowing ball with a blinding speed. Once they impacted it, the ball would fly back up into the air and the creature would fly to a different part of the room casting it in a glow of a seemingly random color.
As a blue glow was cast over a group of the fillies and colts, they began to shout in excitement and clamber towards other colors.
"The Blue Tastes like Blueberries!"
"This yellow one is Bananas!" The Kobolds began to mimic the children and began to lick the air the color was saturating.
Suddenly one of the kobolds inside a different yellow light shut his eyes closed as his face scrunched up.
"BLLUEGH! It tastes like..." Said the Kobold as he stuck his tongue out again. "...BLLUEGH!" A nearby colt moved over and tasted the yellow cloud on the opposite side of the room.
"UGH! It's LEMONS!" Gleam chuckled as the faces they made puckered up.
"Sorry about that, I thought I made em all sweet." The kobolds just smiled back at him and went to other colors.
The Kobolds and ponies all seemed to be getting along well enough. The Kobolds and griffins were a bit stand-offish at first, but that's only because the Kobolds weren't sure how to ask them if it was ok to pet their feathers. They had never seen anything like it before.
The griffins had always wondered what a scaley hide felt like and they had a mutual exchange of sorts. Everything was going as well as anyone would expect.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Glarin was at the front door with Twilight when she suddenly got cold hooves and wanted to go back.
"Maybe I should just go home and come back later. This might be too much for them in just one day. I mean, with them being isolated for so long..." Glarin wrapped his left arm around Twilights withers and opened the door to his house.
"Nonsense Princess, Once they learn you're part of my Clan and why, they will have nothing bad to say about you."
"A-are you sure?"
"Aye Princess, they have seen the light just like me... heheh. In more ways than one." Glarin began to chuckle much to Twilights displeasure
"Why is that funny? That's not funny at all, it's sad! To never see the daylight!" Glarin took his arm off her as they walked inside.
"You know, the first time I saw the light, from the sun anyway, was leaving Fluttershy's home. And even though they all grew up thinking ponies are evil. They still grew up like any dwarf would of. My ancestors you see, they left far more than history for them. It would seem they grew to accept the Kobolds following in their footsteps and left plenty for them to learn."
"What do you mean?" Glarin began to Laugh.
"I mean, they are the closest thing to Dwarves I'm going to get. They know the Culture, of the gods, and all its practices. But there's records for old smithing techniques. I might be able to find out how to make all of our complex alloys again! Truth be told I never memorized all 223 different alloys. I'm not a smith! haha!" Glarin continued his happy gait toward the mine entrance.
"You're really happy to of found them, haven't you? It's not often you're so talkative."
"They are a gift from Berronar, Princess Twilight. She told me where to find them. Knowing her, she'll want me to finish what my ancestors promised, and bring them Glory. But To do that I will need your help. Besides, Dwarven holds are always built upon some kind of ore Deposit. If we're lucky. I'll have found my free Iron source." Twilight looked a bit flabbergasted at the idea.
"W-well what do you expect me to do? Make them citizens of Equestria or something?"
"You're a Princess, you can pull some strings and make it happen right?! I'm not fond of asking Royalty for help Lass, You know that." Twilight thought about it as they continued down the hallways.
"I might be able to accept them as like... refugees? But if they aren't a documented species...Ohh this is going to be so much paperwork." Twilight gave out a sigh "But I'll do it. I suppose I should get to know them first." Glarin nodded his head as the mine entrance came into view.
"By the way, where is everyone?"
"Probably watching one of Gleams shows. The kids good with magic and light. Shame he can't use it much for combat. He's become much better at his shield spells after that tip you gave him. Many of them did actually."
"Your welcome and what show?" Glarin opened the door to the mines entrance and reviled a room filled to the brim with ponies, Kobolds, and some griffins. The griffins seemed to have Kobolds around them all petting their feathers.
Twilight looked into the room and was shocked to see the Kobolds at first. They were a bit scary, yet when she heard them speak, she found their small raspy sounding voices to be rather cute.
Many of them turned to look at her with fear, but when they saw Glarin by her side, The fear was quickly replaced with a smile. Everyone else in the room as well turned to face them once they realized who had come for a visit.
"Princess!" Yelled all of the children in unison before rushing her. Twilight assumed the role she had learned from all the years she had been a Princess. She poised herself up straight and began to emanate a bit of royal authority with a soft smile on her face.
The Kobolds took note of how everyone else was reacting to the new Alicorn in the room. Daidein who had been keeping watch of everything in the back was the first Kobold to approach both of them.
Glarin simply nodded his head at Daidein and motioned toward the crown atop Twilights head. To which Daidein opened his mouth a bit as he lost his composure. Only to have it return as he approached Twilight. He didn't make eye contact with her and kept his gaze slightly averted.
"We know a crown when we see one. We had no idea a Mór one would be friends with The Queen of this land." Glarin chuckled while Twilight became flustered.
Thats the first time someone has mistaken her for a Queen. She kept her posture as she corrected him.
"Actually, I am just a Princess. One of three actually." Glarin nodded his head.
"Aye and she's part of my clan as well. She saved my life when I first arrived. Her and a few of her friends. I would appreciate it if you showed her the respect she deserves." At that statement, Daidein kneeled down to one knee and flared out his wings as wide open as possible.
He reached out and gently grasped her hoof in his scaled claw-like hands. Instead of kissing it, he simply lifted it above his head.
"May you show us the same kindness and Mercy you have bestowed upon our savior as well, Princess." Twilight was a bit taken aback, this Dragonwrought Kobold as Glarin had described with the wings and everything, was easily the scariest one here. Yet he was so gentle, compared to his looks.
"Of Course. I will do everything within my power to help. Glarin has explained everything he knows to me."
Glarin remained silent by her side watching over the room. He witnessed many of the older Kobolds slowly walk up and kneel beside or near Daidein.
The rest of the time was filled with pleasantries that Glarin was no longer listening too. He was more interested in why the area was bathed with colored lights and wondered why many of the younger children were running around the room with their mouths open and tongue hanging out.
He left Twilights side as she spoke in detail with Daidein and a few other Kobolds. She seemed happy enough talking with them. The strange colors that had the children enthralled was far more interesting than politics.
"Oye, what's with you guys?" Asked Glarin as he walked into a red area. He could feel a slight tingle in the air. Causing him to lift his hand and try to grasp at the color filling the air. Spatzi leaped out from behind him.
"Just stick your tongue out!"
"What sorta magic... " As he spoke some of the color hit his tongue "...is this?" As he tasted it he looked around and suddenly realized why all the kids seemed to be licking the colored air.
It was Delicious! Spatzi giggled at the look of confused realization on his face.
"GLEAM my boy! Did you make this tasty light?!" Gleam chuckled a little as he witnessed Glarin lick at the air similar to how the children were. He quickly trotted over and gave him a salute.
"Yes, Sir. The Kobolds asked to see nice and great magics. So I showed them something I've been working on the last 3 months." Glarin nodded his head and put his right arm around Gleam.
"Great job entertaining our new house guests, But you should stick to your training a bit more Lad. This would explain why you're a bit behind the others." Gleam was about to protest but kept his mouth shut.
"Thank you, Sir. Yes, Sir." Glarin nodded his head at Gleam and turned to walk away. Only to wander into all of the other colors with his tongue hanging out.
Spatzi just chuckled as he walked around and put her front paw on Gleams leg.
"We all love your shows Gleam, Even Mr. Unguard." Gleam just chuckled
"I know Spatzi, His stone-faced way of thanking me is just something we must all do as Soldiers. As he says anyway. How did you enjoy my new spell, 'Taste the Rainbow'?" Spatzi giggled at that.
"You named the spell after the rainbow?" Gleam just nodded
"I thought it was appropriate. After all, it's made with light. And a minute amount of electricity in the air. That's how I get the taste sensations. Hehe, the first time I did this I electrified my tongue."
"Is that why you couldn't talk for 3 days three months ago?!" Spatzi was just fighting back a burst of laughter as Gleam turned red in the face.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Twilight, Glarin and several of the Kobolds were standing outside his home saying farewells.
"Okay you guys. I'm gonna do some research tonight and send out some letters, but I should have everything set up for some of you to meet with Princess Celestia. The sooner she gets to see you for herself the sooner we can get all of Equestria ready for your presence."
"We trust you with our lives Princess." Said Daidein as he bowed his head and placed a balled fist over his heart again. Twilight was still amazed at how well he spoke compared to the others who seemed more childlike. But he was supposedly over 50 years old and considered a 'Great Wyrm' by kobold standards.
As Twilight walked off into the distance Glarin looked over at Daidein with a smile on his face.
"So tell me Daidein, Do you know anything about a mine inside the old Hold?" Daidein nodded his head
"Yes Mór one, there was a mine 10 generations ago. We had to collapse it during the bug war."
"Bug war? I didn't read about that." Daidein hissed a bit as he thought. The hiss wasn't violent but seemed to replace the sound of an hmm.
"The bug war, Many of us died and we lost a lot during it. They came from the mine unnoticed as none of us Kobolds had any real interest in it. We just expanded the hold outward to make room for more nests back in the early days. We also had few warriors as we had lived in peace for 10 generations before they arrived."
"I see, The Bug war was something that happened after the dwarves left. What happened? Will we be able to recover the lost areas?" Daidein thought for a moment before nodding his head.
"With your help, anything should be possible Mór one. After all, the only thing we did was collapse all of the lost areas. With too few warriors, we stood no chance when they flooded in. We Kobolds are all that's left. The roots of these 'trees' as you call them. We're what we've been eating." Glarin nodded his head knowingly
"Aye, you eat what you must, to survive." Daidein nodded his head.
"Yes, but the areas we were left too had very little food. Many of us starved and fought over food after the war. But now that were on the surface. We will no longer have to follow strict rules on the number of children we can have. We might be able to eat 2 meals in a day now!" Glarin chuckled and pat him on the back.
"This world may seem poor, with its lack of artistic stonework in its towns. But let me tell you, no one ever goes hungry around here. At least not that I've seen." Daidein and all of the kobolds around him gained huge smiles.
"Tonight, I will show you what it means to eat to Live. Not just to Survive." The kobolds became slightly confused.
"Isn't living and surviving the same?" asked one of the kobolds. Glarin shook his head and told them to wait inside while he did some shopping again. He could dip into his reserve funds for a celebration.
Glarin splurged a little and even gave the guards something they had to chew for once. They hadn't been given anything solid to eat since they started nearly a year ago. All prescribed/created by Princess Twilight Sparkle for maximum health.
Too bad Taste wasn't part of the equation.
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It's back!
I can think of a couple ways to interpret that 'too.' Both make Glarin's mother a scary woman.
I laughed so hard at cat-birds getting petted.
Update?!?!
i.imgur.com/8BjH7M9.gif
This is great, I love dwarves.
Any chance a drow ranger is going to enter the mix?
6749535 Not Likely. Not sure how I would explain one arriving in Equestria without having it sound too far fetched. (well anymore than most of this story already is hah) Kobolds are supposedly the bastard offspring of a dragon and some lesser great wyrm. According to some DnD lore I read awhile ago. Or maybe I got that reference from Neverwinter Nights? Wait, isn't Neverwinter based on DnD anyway? hmmm, Well anyway, Just dropping one in via portal or something seems a bit odd. Besides I have another character I was planning to introduce later on.
6749565 In D&D there is a godess named mielikki her symbol is a unicorn it's her favored creature, so she sends a champion to another world to aid these unicorns, or retrive a mcguffin of some sort. Then Drizzt and our dwarf can hang out.
6750624 Sounds Interesting, but It would be something to implement later on. In the next arc anyway. I'll have to look into that
6750776 MY FRIEND YOU'RE ALIVE, HUZZAH
6754717 Heh, yeah I am.
What do you think the ol dwarfs alignment is?
6762486 Chaotic neutral with a heavy lean toward lawful neutral due to his dwarven upbringing I'd say.
But what are your thoughts?
6764098 I was thinking chaotic good or lawful neutral
6764098 also I was wondering if you had an actual character sheet for Glarin, preferably 5e, it helps me understand a character better when I know their general statistics and specific traits, quirks and abilities. if you could make one it'd help and if not could you give me guidelines for me to make him one?
This kinda reminds me of my Half-Ork barbarian Zodar