> The Ancient Ones > by Dracoliat > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Prologue > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thanks to all my awesome proofreaders: SteelHooves Sketchy Sounds 456456 Check out all their stuff their awesome. The Ancient Ones Prologue The clanging from a workshop was interrupted as a loud, and obscene, word floated out of the windows. A loud clatter came from the workshop, as a filly of 15 walked away giggling lightly. The sword he had been working on was now laying on the floor, after he had struck his hoof with the hammer. The smith knew that it would be bent out of shape and ruined, a useless piece of metal. ‘If only that filly didn’t have those eyes,’ he thought to himself Anavi walked to the door of his forge and looked out onto the street, his eyes watching the filly’s light blue body . Her golden mane danced in the soft breeze. In the bright sun, he thought he could see a hint of her shining, silver highlights and the slightest touch of black. ‘I’ll wager she dyes her mane,’ Anavi thought. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t help but watch her. Anavi thought, ‘ if only you knew how I feel. as he watched her walk away. She was still a little young, but in Anavi’s time, that was not uncommon, as nopony generally lived to be past 40. With a spurt of will, his hooves carried him back inside, his eyes lingering on the large forge that lined most of the wall opposite of him. It’s heat filling the shop as the bright coals burned slowly. His sight soon shifted to the, still slightly orange, piece of metal that lay in front of him. His eyebrow twitched slightly as he remembered the hours of work that had already gone into preparing that blade. With a practiced movement, he grabbed the tongs, and the sword still held in it. His eyebrows scrunched together as the metal continued to shine brightly. His steps were awkward until he shifted the tongs to his mouth. His head bent towards the floor as he approached a soot covered, heavy looking, metal box. He climbed up a small flight of stairs beside it, before flipping open a small trapdoor at the top. The tongs transfered back to his hoof as he let the ruined sword fall into a bright yellow liquid inside of the box. After descending the stairs, Anavi put the tongs next to the forge. Afterwards he walked back to the front of the black box. Anavi’s brushed back his short, brown, mane as he opened a heavy metal latch near the bottom of the box. A slow stream of orange material came out of the hole, pouring into an iron bucket waiting below. His hoof reached out quickly and shut the small door, when the bucket was about half way full. A few drops of sweat struck the stone floor. A shadow outside passed over his building, momentarily bringing an unnatural darkness with it. His eyes shifted to one of the windows, but it disappeared as soon as it had come. “Meh, probably just the pegasi moving a cloud across the sky,” Anavi commented to himself. His hoof reached up to his face, wiping a few drops of sweat from it. The heat inside the forge was reaching a sweltering point from the orange liquid iron in the bucket. Anavi’s mouth reached down and grabbed the extended bucket handle before heaving. The bucket lifted off the ground and came back down a few feet away in a mold. The hot metal beginning to cool as it took a basic shape, like that of a rectangle with a sharp triangle on one end. The tongs clamped lightly around the glowing hot metal as he brought it over to the anvil. Using a special rack he had, his body was supported so he could stand, yet at the same time was protected from the sparks. His eyes narrowed as he grabbed the hammer again. The hammer came down creating a loud clang as a few sparks flew over the workshop. Another strike produced the same effect, and soon the rhythm from before, had picked up again. Every few strikes a loud hissing could be heard as the unrefined blade was dipped into a trough of water. A small cloud of steam began to spread throughout his shop. After repeating this process for the third time, the darkness from before fell over his workshop. “What the hay, this was supposed to be a sunny day, completely free of clouds!” Anavi exclaimed as he put the unfinished blade down on the anvil carefully and went to look outside. His eyes flickered to the sky as the door shut behind him. A moment later his vision took in a strange and terrifying sight. His legs froze as his eyes ran over a long red body. The thick scales covering it were glittering like gems. It’s powerful wings covered in a membrane that caused the light passing through its wings to twist into a sinister crimson. Each flap caused a small gust below blowing away any non secured and light objects. Its head alone was bigger than any pony, it’s body much bigger than a house. His eyes couldn’t move from this monstrosity. A shudder traveled down his spine as his heart began to beat loudly enough to be heard. Anavi’s entire body was completely unaware of everything but himself and the creature. The monster’s eyes glanced down at Anavi, it’s yellow pupil changed to a more narrow and elongated shape. The blood flowing in the eyes clearly visible behind a very thin film of white. Anavi’s mind knew he had to flee, but he couldn’t seem to move as the creature stared him down. It’s jaw unlatched as it took a deep breath in. A soft click came from the beast as a huge torrent of flames emerged from it’s throat and threw themselves towards Anavi. (Thanks for reading this everypony, I hope that you enjoyed the story and would once again like to thank my amazing proofreaders, steelhooves, Sketchy Sounds, and 456456. If you find a mistake please comment on it so I can fix it. I hope you look forward to the rest of this story as much as I do. I am always looking for proof-readers, so if you want, you can message me and stuffs.