Twilight’s barrage of inquires happened almost immediately after I made my comment. Much of them were centered on why I needed dragon fire and the obvious concern for Spike’s safety in such an endeavor. I had to repeatedly state Spike was in perfectly safe hooves. However, my stance on what it was for was merely “A surprise”. Admittedly she was pretty adamant in her attempts, but eventually gave up after realizing I was not going to cave.

“Are you really sure you two are going to be okay?” Twilight questioned yet again.

I just grinned and rolled eyes. “Yes, for the fifth time. You worry too much, Twilight. I am a professional. I have been forging metal since before you were born. Everything shall be completely fine,” I stated putting emphasis on the word “fine”.

“Okay…I guess. Well you be good Spike and be careful with your flames,” she said after frowning.

“Yeah yeah, don’t light anypony on fire. I swear you sneeze in the wrong direction once and you’ll never live it down,” Spike grumbled back.

Twilight was just about to turn around when I realized there was something else I required for my workings. “Twilight, do you still have my Book of Shadows on you?” I inquired.

“Yeah, why?” she replied nervously

“I require it for my ‘project’” I said.

She bit her lip and said, “You need it right now? As in right now right now?”

“Yes…right now right now…” I replied half narrowing my eyes.

Again, I ended up having to wrestle my tome from her magical grasp for the second time in recent history. She kept stating over and over again that she had just gotten to a “good part”. Much to Spike’s distaste I ended up having to under hoofedly kiss her before I was able to retrieve it. She just gave me a sour look in response to my methods. If she only knew what I was planning she might have been more cooperative.

However, it was probably for the best that I did not share my plans. First and foremost, I was not sure I could even succeed in my attempt. The act of working with dragon fire is not for the faint of heart. In fact there have only been a few forgers brave enough to even fathom doing so. The reason for such was pretty apparent. Dragon fire is not what one would call an “average” flame. It is enchanted and incredibly powerful, but it is also extremely chaotic in nature, thus its danger. In other words, I could very easily char myself to crisp if I was not careful.

Spike snorted as Twilight walked out of the room. “Was that really necessary?” he said as he looked me with crossed arms.

“Spike, how many times have you attempted to take an interesting book away from her?” I retorted with a raised eyebrow.

He closed his eyes and shrugged before saying, “Good point.”

After a few moments of chuckling we started walking towards the design archive next to the forge. As we arrived Spike stated, “Sooo what are we making that you need my help?”

“Well let us see…ah ha here we are” I replied while I unrolled the design scroll I was searching for.

He glanced at the scroll I unrolled and snorted again before stating “A sword? That’s what you wanted my help for? Wow, that’s a bit of a letdown.”

“A Letdown?” I said and smirked before adding “This not ‘just’ a sword. It is a katana, a weapon of precision and grace.”

Spike rolled his eyes, chuckled and said, “Yeah…grace, was that before or after Twilight broke one flinging you into a wall?”

“That...was a unique situation…she caught me off guard and got a lucky swing in,” I replied scrunching my face.

“Yeah, a lucky swing and I’m King Sombra in disguise…” Spike retorted sarcastically.

I smirked again and said, “Well your ‘dark lordship’ this sword is going to be a special type of spell blade.”

Spike raised an eyebrow and replied, “A spell blade? What do you mean?”

I glanced over at him and said, “It is like my scythe more or less.”

“If it’s like your scythe why do you need my help?” he inquired.

I rubbed that back of my head with a forehoof and said, “Well because we are going to slightly alter the normal design a bit.”

“Wait alter? As in change? Is that a safe thing to do?” he questioned with a hint of worry.

“Well…probably not, but what is the worst that could happen?” I said with a nervous laugh.

“We could both die in some horrible way!” he yelped.

I turned my head and looked at him. “Oh Spike, where is your sense of adventure?” I questioned.

“That usually runs screaming when ‘horrible death’ gets involved,” Spike said flatly.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. “Spike you must understand. These are not happy and joyful times we are in currently. I did not go about requesting the forging of armor and weapons for you and your friends because of some fashion statement. We are at war. A war that took an awful turn,” I said as I opened my eyes. I then took another deep breath before continuing, “I am attempting to ‘pull out of the book’, as it were, every idea I have at my disposal. As such the creation of this sword would increase the synergy between you and Twilight by a large margin. If it works, it would greatly help our cause. Now, will you help me?”

Spike sighed before looking at me and stating, “What do you need me to do?”

I opened my tome and replied, “Help me bring something back from the past.”

The act of explaining to Spike what I was attempting was the easy part. The act of getting it work was the difficulty. The idea came from something I discovered when I was doing some research for my soon to be bodyguard duty for Twilight. Many moons ago the pairing of young dragons and unicorns was not unheard of. However, only the most gifted of such were allowed to do so. In representation of that union a weapon was often forged to help combine their strength. Although the major details were lost to the sands of time I managed to find something special. I located the very same enchantment used to imbue the weapons. While I had hoped to eventually create a weapon of this type for Twilight and Spike, I wished it was not under the current circumstances.

After a few minutes of study I walked over the Lunar forge and picked up several bars of dark iron. I then tossed them into the nearby crucible and opened the forge vent under it. Bluish black flames wrapped around the crucible as I allowed it to do its work.

While I waited, I located and positioned the mold that is used to create katanas. The amusing part was that the mold truly was something simple in that it was just designed to create thin flat rectangles of metal. All it was meant to do was make metal sheets that could be folded and hammered again and again. All that was required now was to merely wait.

In turn an eternity had felt it had passed before the dark iron finally melted down into a bubbling liquid. I soon sighed in relief for this fact and said “Okay Spike, I am going to pour the metal into the mold. Please stand back as it will be…hot? Spike?”

“Spike where are you?” I stated and looked around.

After a few seconds I heard Spike’s voice, “You just want me to light them on fire?”

I squinted and realized he was with Black Hammer for some reason. I rolled my eyes with annoyance in response. ‘We do not have time for such delays’ I thought to myself as I walked over to where Spike and Black Hammer were.

“What is going on here Black Hammer. I require Spike’s assistance on a different project,” I said in a stern voice.

“Ahh simmer down lad, I be only needin’ the lad fer a minute,” Black Hammer snarked back.

I had no idea what he was up to. He was just having Spike light a few liquids and powders on fire for whatever reason. Some of them would light up better than others, but at that moment I could not be bothered to wonder. After a few minutes I retrieved Spike and left Black Hammer to his chuckling.

“What was that about?” Spike inquired.

“Knowing Black Hammer I am not truly certain if I wish to know. That old warpony has sometimes made my experiments look sane,” I replied with a sigh.

“I heard that lad!” Black Hammer yelled at me.

“You act as if my statement was false!” I yelled back over my shoulder which only caused him to chuckle harder behind me.

And so with the aid of Spike we poured the liquid metal from the crucible into the mold and then moved away to allow another forger to work. I however did not pay much attention to them as I did not take long for our metal to soon cool down. As soon as I figured the temperature was right we moved the mold over to the nearest unused anvil.

All that was required was a few taps of a smith hammer and mold fell away from the still quite hot dark iron. I quickly got out of the way as the metal slapped on top of the anvil with a shower of sparks. While I was pleased that the initial stage was complete, a groan soon left my lips as I remembered what happens next in the making of a katana. This meant starting the hard and awful laborious process of bending the metal over and over again into shape. However, there was no time like the present as I gathered my wits.

“Okay Spike I do hope you do not enjoy sleep or regular eating patterns,” I huffed as I picked up a smithing hammer and some tongs with my magic.

“I’m all up for the job!” he glowered with pride. I could not help but laugh under my breath. The poor fool did not realize that I was completely honest in my statement.

After shaking my head in amusement I strapped the hammer to my left forehoof and attached the tongs to my right. With a grunt of effort I dropped the hammer on the thin metal and used the tongs to fold it. After I folded the metal a few times I picked it up with my magic and had Spike blast it evenly with dragon fire. Green flames licked around it and heated it up again. I then placed the metal back on the anvil for further hammering and folding.

We continued this process again and again with little rest. When Spike could go no further due to sheer exhaustion I let him recuperate for half of a day before continuing. Truth be told I normally would have not stopped that much, but Twilight scolded me at some point when Spike borderline collapsed. She was right I had to admit as was he still young. Although I did not have the heart to tell her that it was not me that kept him working. It was amusing when I had figured out early that it was just his stubborn pride that kept him going.

The days seemed to blur together after a while. The same task day and night for I believe two weeks. I was only aware of that passage of time because of Black Wing’s scouts’ status reports that came in daily. While I attempted to not overhear too much, I discovered that the war was still quiet. No activity at all in the least for any of the rogue factions. This of course was always followed by her bashing extra hard the piece of metal she was shaping. I often had to push my worry to the back of my mind as I continued working.

So after two horrible and grueling long weeks the sword was mostly complete with the irritatingly detailed runes of power from my tome. There was only one last step of the process which that was for some reason called “The Empowerment”. I wrote down what to do long ago, but I had little idea what it meant beyond that. However, I supposed it was now or never to put the finishing touches on the sword.

In an exhausted and ragged voice I stated, “Okay…Spike…we need just one more flame blast.”

He barely responded with a groan while he coughed a few times. He then rubbed his eyes several times before yawning. “Please tell me…this is the…last one. Not like…those other hundred…times,” he said almost falling over.

“Yes…last one. Truly…last one. I…I will just…stand right here with…the sword in front of me. Just bath the blade in…flame…” I said trying my damnedest to stay awake.

At those words the other exhausted forgers gave us a wide berth. It was actually quite entertaining watching a bunch of ponies in a near zombie like state move quickly away from us. After they cleared away I got into position three meters in front of the barely functional Spike.

So there I stood, on my wobbly hind legs with the katana’s grip in my forehooves and the point of blade directed up. I had a mixture of thoughts running through my mind at the time. First and foremost I desired nothing more than a good meal and some rest. The second thought was something along the lines of ‘What the fuck am I doing?! I am going to be fucking immolated! Why oh why did I do this?!’ repeating over and over in my mind. The last was the thought of Twilight beating the moonlight out of me when she discovers Spike in his current barely conscious state.

“Whenever…you are…ready….Spike” I said shaking horrid fatigue off a few times.

I swallowed hard as I saw him suck in a deep breath. He then blew a powerful green blast of flame right at me. Time slowed down as the adrenaline kicked in. It took everything I had to prevent myself from dodging out of the way. This was either going to work or I was going to have a lot less fur and skin.

My eyes opened wide with amazement on what happened next. The blade’s runes flared to life as the fire met the katana. The fiery blast actually bent inward at the last moment before what I could only describe as the fire getting sucked into the blade. The sword literately consumed the flames with no evidence other than the runes of power glowing bright green on the blade’s sides.

I just stood there wide eyed as I realized that I was still alive and whole. As I was started to feel overjoyed at the result I felt somepony tap me on my shoulder. This however caused me to yelp and accidentally swing the katana in front of me.

The blade reacted in kind and released the flame it apparently stored. A fireball made of green dragon fire was released and screamed only a half a meter over Spike’s head. It then flew straight through the air before it slammed into one of the room’s wooden shelves. The shelf was quickly engulfed in green fire and then reduced to ashes.

I did not even give it a second thought before I quickly grabbed the fireproof saya I made along the way and sheathed the katana. A small smile crept up my face that soon turned into a mad grin. “He…he…hehe…hehehehehahahaHAHAHAHAHHAHA WHAT THE FUCK DID WE JUST CREATE HAHAHAHA?!” I bellowed right before my adrenaline rush abruptly ended. My fatigue then instantly returned with a vengeance causing my eyes to roll back into my head before I collapsed and lost consciousness.

I, in all probability, would have remained unconscious, but I kept hearing voices around me, “By the moon! Both lads passed out!” one voice stated.

“Everypony give us some room. All right, it appears Spike had just fainted, he shall recover. What in Tartarus was Blood Moon thinking? Come on Blood Moon, wake up,” another voice stated as I felt somepony partially lift me up and tap the side of my face.

“It gonna take a lot more ta wake the lad up than that lass. Aye, I know what know what he needs,” the first voice stated.

“Black Hammer, what in Equestria are you attempting to do?” the second voice inquired.

“I’d stand back lass if I were you,” the second voice replied with a chuckle.

I did not like the tone in that voice. My mind was barely processing anything at that moment until I heard the words “ice cubes”. As my thoughts started to drift off I got splashed by the most frigid water I could ever fathom.

My eyes snapped open and I let loose an echoing yelp. Then every muscle in my body tensed up before I flopped back to the ground again. Just as the shivers started I looked around to see all the other forgers laughing. I groaned and stated, “Was that truly necessary, Black Hammer.”

“It got ye up didn’t it?” he replied with some more of his chuckling and more laughter from the others.

I gathered what wounded pride I had and stood up on my wobbly legs and quickly located Spike. He did indeed appeared to have passed out. However, I was not certain if it was from almost getting reduced to ashes or just pure exhaustion. Either way I was going to receive an earful from Twilight. After looking him over for injuries I lifted him up and placed him on my back.

A groan left my lips at the added weight, but I was still able to stand. After that I then turned to Black Wing who was standing not far from me shaking her head. “Well I believe we had enough amusement for one day. I am going to put me and Spike to bed. However, before I go, how is the progress on the other weapons and armor?” I stated.

Black Wing rubbed her eyes with a forehoof and replied with, “Everything is almost completed. We are all just putting on the finishing touches. However, I believe the other forgers were having perhaps a tad too much fun…”

The other forgers just chuckled to each other as I said, “Fun? Pray tell, what does that mean?”

“Meet…meet me in the Reaper Knight Arena tomorrow. For now just please get yourself and Spike cleaned up and get some rest,” she groaned.

Her and the other forgers went back to work, but I stopped Black Hammer. “How is Spike’s armor coming along?” I inquired.

“Oooh he is gonna be happy with me work. Aye, hehehe aye he is hehehe,” he said in a half chuckle and half crazed tone. After a few seconds I realized he had several patches of his fur burnt off. It was then I completely decided I was better off not to ask. I did however have a slight fear for Spike’s future safety, but I could not scold Black Hammer after what I almost did to Spike myself.

So after grabbing Twilight’s new sword I walked to the Lunar Wing showers. I then managed to clean me and Spike the best I could. It was actually quite amusing that even with the water on him he did even wake up. I then picked him up again and headed toward my section of the Lunar Wing.

After arriving at Spike's room I put the still passed out Spike to bed before heading to my own room. I was just about to open my room door when I heard somepony clearing their throat behind me. The fur on my neck stood up when I realized who was behind me. I then slowly turned my head to see a thoroughly unamused Twilight giving me a doom glare and angrily tapping her right forehoof on the floor.

I swallowed and started to say, “H-h-hello Twilight, delightful even-” before being cut off.

“What…did…you…do…to Spike…” her tone got increasingly angrier with each word as she continued to glare.

You know I have faced hordes of rogue soldiers. I have dealt with situations that could be easily described as dire. I have even defeated some powerful foes in my day. However, none of them struck fear into my heart as much as the light purple alicorn standing only three meters from me. I sputtered out, “H-he is f-fine he just got a little too t-t-tired so I put him to bed.”

“You Liar! What did you do to him?! What do you two do?!” she screeched at me.

I rested my head for a minute on my door before I turned around and sat in front of her as I closed my eyes. “Do not worry Spike is unharmed, minus in need of some rest. This was supposed to be a surprise. However, as I see you are greatly displeased with me, I shall show you what we were creating. Both me and Spike worked hard to make this for you.” I opened my eyes and slipped Twilight’s new katana off of my back and passed it to her.

She fumbled her words a bit as she stated “F-for me?” and took the katana.

I smiled and nodded right before she unsheathed the blade. The glow in her eyes was a marvelous sight to behold. She held the blade out in front of her before red tears started to well her in eyes. “You…you two made this for me? I…I don’t know what to say,” she said as she re-sheathed her katana.

“It is a specially made spell blade imbued with Spike’s very own dragon fire. I will need to show what-” I began to say before she quickly walked over to me. She then passionately kissed me and pinned me to my room door.

She only backed off for a second to hoof me on the side of the face before she said, “Don’t you ever do that to Spike again!” and then continued to passionately kiss me.

I truly to not remember much of happened after that point. I only remember waking up in my bed with me and her completely wrapped up in each other. She was still sleeping next to me with one of the largest smiles I have ever seen. I blinked several times and the only thing I could remember through my foggy memory was she was having quite the delightful time with me. Beyond that was just an interesting mystery. Not that minded though. I was at least still alive after our little encounter yesterday.

I probably would have stayed where I was, but I remembered that I need to meet Black Wing in the arena. So with what little motivation I had I forced both me and Twilight get out of bed. We then collected Twilight’s friends and my lieutenants, and we all made our way to the Reaper Knight Arena to meet General Black Wing. I had to admit I was almost as excited as several of the others. While I knew more or less what was being created, Black Wing’s statement of the other forgers having “fun” got me intrigued.

As we entered the arena there in the center sat Black Wing right next to a medium sized table. On the table sat six different armor rings of varying colors along with the weapons for Twilight's friends. Black Wing stood up and walked in front of the table as we made our way over to her.

Black Wing smiled before stating, "Hello everypony. It is good to see you all are well. The promised the armor sets and weapons are all ready to be used. However as I wish for us to do this properly, Princess Twilight Sparkle can you please have your friends stand shoulder to shoulder in front of me?" Right after they did so Black Wing added, "Blood Moon would you care to do the honors?" and hoofed over several sheets of parchment to me.

"With pleasure," I replied and read over the documents and then cleared my throat before stating "Applejack please step forward."

She in turn fixed her hat and walked forward towards me. After locating her armor ring on the table I lifted it with my magic, separated it and attached the orange ring to her neck. I then placed her iron hoof weapons on her legs. The armor then activated and thick and heavy looking plates slid out of the ring. The orange plates covered her completely until she looked like a walking juggernaut. According to the notes it was one of heaviest models that was ever created. However, due to it being so massive it was enchanted with a strength spell so she could actually move.

"Okay Applejack this armor is one of the heaviest ever created. You should still be able easily move due to the enchantment imbued into it. The legs are enchanted with kinetic absorbers that will store energy until it is ready to be used. The armor had been dubbed..." I said but stopped at the armor's name. I turned to Black Wing and said "They cannot be serious."

"Just say it Blood Moon" She replied and pursed her lips.

I rolled my eyes and stated, "It is dubbed 'The Cider Press 2.0'"

The others laughed and I could faintly hear Applejack chuckling behind the heavy suit of armor as she walked back to were she was.

"Okay" I said shuffling my notes and added "Rainbow Dash you are next".

She walked forward as located her light blue armor ring and wing blades. Right after I attached the armor and wing blades, the armor activated. Thin sheets of metal slid out into an almost formfitting design. According to the notes the light blue plates positioned themselves in such a way to make her more aerodynamic. Along with the suppression field enchantment, it had special enchantments that could reflect sunlight away from her.

I took a deep breath and stated "This model is one of lighter ones. It was mainly designed for one thing in mind, pure speed potential with its aerodynamic form. Along with the suppression field, you should be more comfortable in the sun due the built in light reflecting spells. It was dubbed 'The Record Breaker". After she boasted for a few minutes she went to the line.

"Alright Fluttershy you are up next," I stated and she had to pushed forward in response.

I picked up her armor ring and the shepard's staff. She then proceeded to grab the staff for dear life as her armor activated. Instead of plates the armor output a formfitting suit of scale mail complete with a scale mail cloak with wing holes. According to the notes, the armor had some ridiculous protections spells built in. It also had pockets to where she could store anything from potions to salves to bandages. Her staff was also enchanted to match her quiet nature. It possessed a powerful paralysis spell with the instructions jokingly put into a comic showing her bashing somepony on the head.

I rolled my eyes and stated, "This model is more of a unique cloak and suit design. It was created to be light, but strong. It was also enchanted to be able block attacks to the point of insanity. Your staff has a powerful paralysis spell on it that activates when you hit somepony on the head. The armor was dubbed "The Pacifist"

Fluttershy whimpered as she bolted back to the line.

I shook my head and stated "Rarity you are next"

I then picked up Rarity's armor ring and rapier. She held the sword in a fencing position as the armor covered her. The simmering white colored metal spread out into rather elegant looking dress complete with an opera style mask that wrapped around her head and neck. According the notes the armor is meant to be loose fitting for easier movement. The rapier was well balanced and also sharpened down to near atom thin on the blade and point.

"This model was created to maximize movement. It is light but strong and the rapier is balanced and probably sharp enough to puncture most armor with a good thrust. The suit was dubbed 'The Mystique Magnifique'"

She gave the rapier a few thrusts in the air before walking back to the line.

"Pinkie pie you are next" I stated.

She jumped several times in joy before I was able to get her to calm down enough to get her armor ring on her and give her, her mallet. The armor came out in a neon pink color that formed strange spheres around her joints. According the notes the spheres contained large springs in them to allow her to jump higher. Her mallet was enchanted with the insane blasting cap spell. The spell was some crazed project by some equally crazy unicorn that had a love for explosives.

I groaned when I said "This model was designed for jump height and maneuverability. The mallet...the...mallet...is going to be rather unpleasant for the poor soul on the receiving end. The armor was dubbed 'The Party Animal'."

After she made it back into the line I stated "Alright Spike your turn."

He nervously walked up and I placed the armor ring on him. Within seconds the liquid metal flowed out over him and formed plates and some sort of dual tank on his back. I scrambled through the notes that Black Hammer created and I proceeded to facehoof. This was what the mad old warpony was working on.

"Is something wrong," I heard Spike behind his helm.

Without even looking at him I stated "Spike, breath your fire straight up." When he sounded confused I added "just do it".

Spike shrugged, took a deep breath and right as he exhaled the helm opened where his mouth was. Two seemingly hidden jets engaged just as the flame left his lips. A powerful accelerant sprayed right into his flames and it created a four meter high flame cone.

As everypony look on in amazement I said "There is a secondary function on that. We will look at later as I fear for your life. Perhaps the name will allude to what it is, Black Hammer dubbed it the 'Rocket Dragon'"

Right as I about about to stay something else a large explosion shook the arena. I yelled "What in Tartarus was that?!" right as another explosion took place knocking almost everypony to the ground.

A few seconds later a lunar guard ran in and yelled to Black Wing "CANTERLOT IS UNDER SIEGE!"

Black Wing yelled back in shock "WHAT?! BY WHOM?!"

The guard looked obviously panicked as she yelled back "ALL THREE ROGUE FACTIONS!"

I would like to give a big thanks to Hewolf and Cakebomb for helping me come up with armor ideas.