Author's Notes:

*Warning*

Somepony gets punched in the mouth this chapter.

Applejack looked back at Galen, her face suddenly neutral as a spike of worry cut through her good mood. Galen noticed her change in expression and held up his hands in supplication, “It ain't anythin' bad,” he said. “Ah jus' wanted ta let ya know what Ah decided on in regards ta mah forge.”

“Alright,” Applejack replied as she moved more into the living room and took a seat in the chair. She looked back at the kitchen and saw Pinkie Pie looking out with a slightly worried expression on her face, but Applejack just waved her off with a smile that said things would work out whatever he decided. She turned back to Galen as he settled down on the couch and asked, “So what did ya decide?”

“Well, Ah'd like ta take yew up on yer offer an' build mah forge here,” he said with a smile. “Ah'll be payin' yew what Ah think yer land's worth an' Ah won't take no fer an answer.”

Applejack's fur bristled at that, “Now you listen here, Galen. This land's been in our family for a long time and Ah think Ah gave you a reasonable price.”

“Yew did,” he replied with a wicked half smile as Applejack was suddenly disarmed.

“Then what're ya talking about?” she asked in confusion.

“Ah checked the prices of similar land prices 'round town and yew were by far the cheapest,” he replied. “Taking inta consideration jus' who owns tha land an' what it means ta them, Ah think Ah deserve ta make a final offer. Yew offered that plot ta me fer fifty bits an' Ah think tha's far too low fer such precious land. Ah think six hundred bits is a far more satisfactory offer.”

Applejack heard wild thumping coming from the kitchen as she choked on her tongue for a moment as Galen chuckled at her response. A sudden coughing fit and gasp of air had her leaning against the arm rest of her seat. “S... Six hundred?!” she choked out.

“What?” he asked with a wide grin.

“You could buy a house and twenty acres of land for that much!” she shouted. “Minimum!”

“So?” Galen replied with an expression of stern determination. “Yew took me in an' gave me a place ta rest mah head without askin' fer a thing in return. Now, yew offered me a place ta work an' live fer as long as Ah'm here. Yew are givin' me an' Riley a home an' it means a lot more ta me than a bag o' money.”

“One hundred,” she replied in a stern voice. Galen smiled, knowing that he had gotten to her.

“Five ninety,” he countered.

“One fifty.”

“Five seventy-five.”

“Impossible man!”

“Let's cut to the chase an' call it good at four hundred an' we can crack out th' cider,” Galen said with a smile.

“Fine, but Ah won't forgive you for this,” Applejack replied. “Ain't right throwin' that much money at ponies tryin' ta do a good deed.”

“Call it yer just rewards,” he replied with a smug smirk. “So, yew wanna head ta tha kitchen with me fer tha' cider?”

“Oh, you're gonna regret this for quite some time, Galen McCaffrey,” Applejack rumbled with a devilish smirk.

“As long as Ah have enough cider, Ah won't mind,” he said with a chuckle as he got up and started crossing the room. Applejack got up and followed him, almost getting floored as Pinkie let loose with her party cannon as Galen entered the room. Galen was literally thrown back a couple feet from the force of the cannon and landed on his back just in front of her.

Applejack looked from the weakly coughing Galen to Pinkie who had a brilliant blush on her face and gave a weak smile over the back of her cannon. “Sorry, Galen. I think I added too much powder this time.”

“Oh, yew'll get yers, Pinkie,” Galen growled with a groan as he got up and ran a hand through his hair, dislodging a small shower of confetti. She just meeped in reply and sank down lower behind her instrument of chaos, her eyes widening slightly. Applejack couldn't help but laugh at the sight and needed to lean against the door frame for support. Pinkie glanced at Applejack worriedly and Galen took the moment to pounce, a wicked grin on his face as he dashed two quick steps into the kitchen and around the canon. Pinkie responded with good speed, but Galen was already in motion and caught her around the barrel just as she turned around to flee.

“No no no no no!” she shrieked with laughter as he shifted his grip, an arm under her flank while the other began tickling her ribs and stomach. She squirmed and shrieked her protests, but Galen was too strong for her to break free from easily. Big Mac suddenly burst through the back door as he thought something was wrong, but as soon as he saw what was going on he held a hoof up to his mouth and gave a few choked snickers before walking off with shaking sides. Her brothers appearance and reaction made Applejack loose it completely as she slid to the floor and rolled onto her back, guffaws and snorts beginning to make her stomach hurt. “Ga-Galen...” she tried to pant out between heaving laughs. “Le-let me go-ho-ho... You're gonna make me pee-he-heee if you don't st-ha-ha-haaap!”

Eventually Galen relented with a laugh of his own and sat Pinkie down on on the floor before she sprinted off to the upstairs bathroom in a blur of pink. There was an indignant yell from Apple Bloom followed by the sound of a slamming door. Galen chuckled as he looked through the door Pinkie had just ran through. He looked down at Applejack and asked with a smirk, “Need some help there?”

“Ah'm... Ah'm good,” she managed as her laughter subsided. She got up on shaky legs and made her way to a seat at the table. She watched as Galen walked over and rummaged in the lower section of the ice box, pulling three bottles of chilled cider out before moving to the table. He popped off the caps and slid one in front of Applejack and opened one for himself before taking a long pull from his own. “Jus' so ya know, Ah was serious 'bout tha' first offer. Ah'm sure yew could use tha bits ta get a few things that would make life here a lot easier.”

“We're fine with what we have and your bits are more than enough ta see that happens anyway,” she replied gruffly. “Heck, even my offer would have gotten us enough ta dig another cellar.”

“An' yew were talkin' ta me 'bout pride th' other day,” Galen said with a snort. “Call it generosity from a man who had barely a thing ta his name an' has a way ta show his gratitude.”

“You're impossible,” Applejack said with a shake of her head as she took her own bottle and drank half of it in one go before loosing a rumbling belch.

Pinkie finally came back from her unexpected trip to the bathroom and wore a blush as she took a seat at the table as Galen opened the last bottle and slid it over to her. She shot him a glance that was impossible to discern and proceeded to drink deeply from her bottle. “Yew make it in time?” he asked with a shit eating grin. Pinkie sprayed a little cider and coughed a little before she shot him a look that promised retribution.

“Yeah, I made it,” she mumbled to Galen's chuckles.

“Was tha' Bloom Ah heard yelling at ya up there?”

“Yeah,” she groused. “I had to cut in line because someone had to tickle me until I almost had an accident.”

Applejack and Galen got a good chuckle out of that. With a moment of calm, Galen looked between the two mares and noticed their accessories. “So, wha's with th' flowers?” he asked as he looked between the two ponies. “Somethin' goin' on tha' Ah should know 'bout?” Applejack and Pinkie blushed simultaneously, Pinkie looking away with a very fetching look at Applejack to rescue her from further embarrassment. Applejack looked across the table at Galen who wore a small grin that slowly grew wider and wider as he watch them.

“Ah neither confirm nor deny anything,” Applejack replied as she looked away.

“Alrigh',” Galen said. “Ah won' press ya if yer not ready ta talk 'bout it.”

“Thanks,” she said dryly. “So, when are ya gonna start building your forge?”

“Ah had Twilight send a letter ta Celestia before Ah left, sometime 'round noon, so Ah should be hearing something soon.” He shifted in his seat with a slightly uneasy expression. “Still feels weird takin' a loan out like this, especially since Ah wanna deck her still fer what she said. Ah've always worked my way up to it before, but Ah have nothin' ta work with since Ah came here.”

“Are ya serious?” Applejack asked with wide eyes. “You wanna punch the Princess?!”

“If it would serve as a way to atone for my mistake, I would be more than willing to let Galen strike me,” said a melodic voice through the window. They all whipped their heads over and saw none other than Celestia standing outside the window.

“Princess!” Twilight gasped, though they couldn't see her yet.

“Really, it would be fine,” she replied. “I would even be willing to count this as Galen's first offense and judge it appropriately.”

Galen gave a rueful smile and stood up from the table as he flexed his hands. “You can't be serious,” Applejack said incredulously as she looked at Galen with wide eyes.

“As serious as Celestia is,” he rumbled with a grimly eager expression to have all this behind them.

“Wonderful,” Celestia said with a grin at the overall absurdity of the situation and how it was progressing. “Now, let's get this over with so that we can move on to discussing the terms of your loan.”

“What's going on, Twilight,” said a youthful boys worried voice from outside.

“Nothing you need to know about, Spike,” Twilight replied. “This is between Galen and the Princess.”

Galen moved to the door and stepped outside, freezing on the spot as he noticed the young dragon riding on Twilight's withers. Spike looked back and started a bit at seeing just how drastically different Galen was in respect to the only other human he had known. “Holy cow, your arms are huge!”

Galen snorted and gave a little grin. “Who's the little guy?”

“Hey, most of us would be little compared to those massive things growing from your shoulders,” Spike retorted with a snort of amusement. “But seriously, are you going to punch the Princess?”

“Hey, she said Ah could, so Ah'm gonna,” he replied as he started stretching out. Applejack and Pinkie Pie came out reluctantly as he moved out of the doorway and stopped a pace before Celestia. “Yew want somethin' ta bite down on?”

“I'll be fine,” Celestia replied as she moved Twilight and Spike with a wing.

“Might break a few teeth if ya don',” he said levelly.

“I can repair any damage you may do,” she replied.

“Suit yerself,” he replied as he settled into a boxing posture and raised his fists in front of him. “Yew ready?”

“I am,” Celestia said as she raised her chin slightly.

Galen nodded and seemed to settle into his posture, left leg forward, and waited for a moment. Suddenly, he dashed the final step forward, planted his right foot forward and crouched down as he brought his right fist down and up in a massive blow that landed squarely on her chin. For all of her weight, Galen's blow snapped her head back and actually managed to lift her forelegs up from the ground by almost an inch before she fell back to the earth and staggered around drunkenly for a brief moment. She pursed her lips and spat on the ground, her saliva a glob of deep crimson spotted with small, jagged white pieces of tooth. The ponies around them looked sickly at the bloody spot, Spike even managing to turn a little greener.

“P-Princess?” Twilight asked in a tiny voice.

Celestia lowered her head and held out her foreleg to stall the younger mare from talking any more. With silence guaranteed, her horn lit up with a golden glow that seeped across her head and focused on her mouth and muzzle. A few sickening clicks and pops sounded from her jaw before she pursed her lips and spat out a larger glob of blood and bits of tooth.

“Want some water, Celestia?” Galen asked as he flexed his hand. She nodded, so he went back inside and returned a few moments later with a cold glass of water. He offered it and she took it in her magic. She took a modest mouthful, swished it around and spat.

“May I have some milk, Applejjjack?” she asked, her odd pronunciation due to three of her teeth having been completely shattered and another pair obviously broken.

“Of course, Princess,” she replied steadily before going inside.

“What was that popping noise?” Spike asked with curiosity.

“Oh, Galen broke my jjjaw in one place and frakshured it in two other places,” she replied with a nonchalant shake of her head. Twilight's mouth fell open at that. “He has quite a punch.”

“So, we good?” he asked as Applejack returned with a tall glass of milk.

“One moment, Galen,” she said as she rinsed her mouth out once more with water before drinking the entire glass of milk in one go. Her magic glowed around her muzzle once again and a very faint grinding noise was heard as she repaired her shattered and broken teeth. A moment later the noise stopped and she rinsed her mouth out one last time to rid her of any lingering fragments of tooth. “There, much better,” she replied with a smile to show of her perfect teeth. “But yes, I would say that we are. As far as your violent offense goes, I will have it noted that I had incited you to such actions and we will leave it at that with no further actions taken.”

“Thank yew, Celestia,” Galen replied with a nod of his head. “Ah must say tha' Ah'm sorry as well. Normally, Ah don' get so riled up or hold onto anger like Ah did, but no one and nothing says things like tha' without retribution.”

“I suppose you are right,” she replied with a chagrined expression. “So, shall we go inside to work out the details?”

“Unless Jack says otherwise,” Galen said with a smirk at Applejack.

“You're kidding, right?” she asked in a deadpan. She shook her head, “Come on, you two. Let's get this taken care of.”

Galen let the others go in ahead of him and was about to go in when Twilight suddenly turned around with a slightly worried expression on her face. “You're not going to get all punch happy, are you? I know Lero was a little antsy after his first major scuffle.”

“No, Twilight, Ah'm not gonna get all 'punch happy,'” he replied with mirth in his tone. “Takes a lot ta make me loose mah cool an' it normally blows over as quick as it comes.”

“Good,” she replied. “Because I really don't want to have to loan you the bits for the fines you'd likely get if you punched somepony else.”

“Not to mention the hospital bills,” Spike snarked.

“Ah wouldn't take 'em anyway,” he replied after a laugh at Spike's words. He made a shooing motion with his hands for her to continue on. “Let's forget it ever happened. Done is done an' Ah forgive Celestia. Took a lot of courage ta jus' take a punch like tha'.”

Twilight gave a little smile at hearing his words and turned to continue into the living room. The various ponies were spaced around the room with Pinkie and Applejack flanking Celestia on the couch which left Galen, Twilight and Spike the two remaining chairs. Once Galen sat down, Celestia looked to him with a smile.

“Twilight tells me that you'd like to use your request to build a forge here on Sweet Apple Acres,” she said.

“Tha's righ',” he replied. “It's gonna be a bit costly, but Ah don' mind workin' it off. Ah'd rather earn it than jus' take it.”

“A very honorable stance,” she replied. “Twilight's project outline projected the cost at five thousand seven hundred bits. At the standard repayment rate, your payments would be roughly sixty bits a month. That won't leave you very much money left over for much of anything.”

“Ah don' need much an' Riley's happy as long as he has a full belly an' a limb ta rub his belly,” Galen said with a shrug. Celestia's expression turned a little melancholy at that.

“If you say that is how it is, then I won't argue that point,” she said. “I would like to offer you the most favorable terms I can. With that being said, I cannot let you impoverish yourself in an effort to remain wholly independent. To that end, I will split your loan in two, the first payment of the first loan coming due two months after the completion of your forge. The first payment of the second loan will come due the first month after the other loan has been payed off. If you wish to pay in advance, I cannot stop you from doing that, but this will give you a chance to enjoy your time here instead of working yourself ragged to make each months payment.”

“Ah suppose Ah can live with tha',” Galen replied with a small sigh. Celestia nodded and lit her horn, a pop sounding as a sheaf of creamy parchment, ink and a quill came into existence. She dipped the quill and the furious sounds of the quill writing rapidly sounded for a few minutes as she drew up the document. She finished it and levitated it and the quill over to Galen who read over the paper and signed underneath her signature. She smiled and the document and the other items she conjured disappeared with a tiny pop.

“Now, with that done, I would like to commission you for some official work,” she said with a smile. “I know you won't be able to work for a while, but I would like to be your first customer if you would grant me that privilege.”

“Well, tha Apples get tha' privilege,” he replied with a smirk at Applejack who blushed at being put on the spot like that.

“In that case, how about your first consignment?”

“Ah suppose tha' works,” he replied.

“Wonderful,” Celestia said with a smile. “I have been meaning to open a small mint to supply our expanding cities in the south, Apploosa and Dodge Junction specifically. You would produce a quota of coins as requested each month and earn one bit in ten to be payed out once my treasury representative receives them, the same as any of my other minters.”

“Why not jus' have them made in tha capital?” he asked with a raised eyebrow.

“I have a ten year consignment with them as it is and they do an adequate job, but they also have the secondary job of receiving bad coins and reworking them into blanks and usable currency,” she answered. “Not to mention the fact that smithing is not a very common talent, so whenever somepony, or person in this case, has the talent in a desirable location, I like to make the offer.”

“How do yew prevent them from making their own bits?”

“I infuse the dowel magically with a specific number of uses,” she replied smugly. “There is no such thing as a bad strike when forging the blanks as the spell reworks the surfaces into a standard bit. When the treasury representative takes the bits, they take the dowel and give you another one along with the next orders blanks.”

Galen raised an eyebrow. “Pretty slick,” he said in an approving tone.

“I can't take the credit for that specific stroke of ingeniousness,” she said with a smile. “That came from a unicorn mage by the name of Clover the Clever who lived thousands of years ago. She offered much inspiration to future generations of unicorns with her unique spells and philosophical musings.”

“Ah can see how she got 'er name,” he replied.

“So, would you like to take the consignment?” she asked. “I can reduce the contract to a year with the option to renew if you so desire.”

Galen sighed and made a show of looking thoughtful. He kept up the act until Applejack and Twilight began to look worriedly at one another before he snorted a quick laugh and grinned at Celestia who smiled back. “Sure,” he replied simply. Their worried expressions disappeared in a flash and they gave him rueful smiles.

“Fantastic!” Celestia stood from the couch and offered a foreleg for him to shake, Galen stood up as well with a smile and gave her a single shake. “I'll have the paperwork sent to Twilight tomorrow for you to go through at your earliest convenience.”

“Sounds like a plan,” he replied with a small grin.

“Well, in that case, I must be off to pester the Royal Treasurer about my newest minter,” she said with a grin. “I swear she likes coins more than ponies sometimes.”

“Have fun with tha',” Galen said with a laugh as he followed her out the front door.

“I'll see what I can do,” she said with a smirk. “I'll see you all sometime later and I'll be in touch soon, Galen.”

They all nodded and made their appropriate farewells to Celestia as she moved off, her horn igniting before she disappeared in a flash of light.

“You know, Ah still can't believe you punched the Princess,” Applejack said with a shake of her head.

“Eh, shit happens,” he replied with a shit eating grin, immensely pleased with himself for some unknown reason.

“Enough with that,” Twilight said with a sigh. “We should be taking care of some pressing matters in preparation.”

“Yeah,” Pinkie chirped in happily. “We need to have a 'Galen punched the Princess in the face and now he's building a forge party!'” Galen and Spike just laughed as Twilight and Applejack facehooved, Pinkie Pie grinning the whole time.