After his story, and subsequent boost in popularity amongst the villagers, The Forgemaster went back to his home.

Now, while the Forgemaster relies on tried and true methods to get most everything done, he has a subtle and almost never seen flair for the exotic and the dramatic. This hidden impulse of his is what drove him to re-create one of his favorite toys of all time: A cattle-prod! With some extensive modifications, of course.

What he actually ended up making was a 2 pronged sword with lightning runes on the blades. He also coated the hilt and the guard with rubber, just in case. While not technically a cattle-prod, it would certainly shock the unholy sin out of whatever it was he just happened to be slashing or stabbing at. A side effect of the runes he used in its creation was that electricity was constantly and erratically arcing between the twin blades. That looked… really, really cool, to be honest. He had finished the blade and was giving it a polish, whilst wearing rubber gloves, when a knock was heard at the front door of his home. The door opened at his command to enter.

The pony that chose that moment just happened to be Twilight Sparkle, once more wielding a notepad and a quill. He indicated her to sit on the only thing nearby; a pile of ingots.

"Back for more questions, Twilight Sparkle?" he asked her.

"No, I'm here for answers." She said.

"But the answers that you seek will inevitably lead to more questions. Am I right, Twilight Sparkle?"

She sighed, "Yeah, you're right."

"How about a deal? You ask your questions and I test something on you."

She looked at him warily, "What kind of test?"

"I won't lie; it will probably hurt. But, that's the price one pays for knowledge…"

She sighed once more, angrily this time, "Fine, I'll do your test, but after my questions."

At his wave to continue, she asked, "Do you know why my magic, and other ponies' magic, doesn't affect you?"

"No, I don't know. Though, if I were to hazard a guess; it would be that our magics are too different to interact properly with each other. Kind of like the how the same poles on a magnet repel each other. That would imply that our magics were similar, and they aren't, but it's the only analogy I've got. I would say that only powerful magic could affect me, like Celestia's or maybe yours. But, I haven't a clue."

She grinned happily when he said that her magic might affect him, "Alright, can I ask about your magic?"

"Yes, your punishment has been up for a while now."

"YES! What kind of magic can you do?"

"All kinds, though necessity prompted me to become highly skilled in combat magic."

"Can you teach me how to become invisible?"

"Why would you want to know? You aren't a sneaky little thief are you, or a spy?"

"No, no, no, no! Nothing like that, I just kinda… really wanted to know?"

"Fine, I'll teach you. But, there are many skills needed to learn to build up to true invisibility. I don't know what kind of system you unicorns have set up; probably learning specific spells in any old order. But, when humans learn magic, we start simple and build on that one skill gradually. For instance; one must first learn how to light a fire before one can learn how to throw a fireball."

"I understand, it'll be great learning more magic!"

Twilight positively had a fan-mare moment. She basically squee'd and had a small party on her make-shift chair. She calmed down after a few moments.

"So how did you earn the title, Forgemaster?"

He smiled at the genuinely happy memories the question brought up, "I worked as an apprentice to a great smith, I learned much from him, and others. However, as a baby bird must leave the nest, so I too had to leave my master and travel the world. I wound up in a kingdom that was famed for its metal-working. When I arrived, the local smiths were all trying to out-do themselves with greater and greater works of metal art. Practical art, I mean; things like swords, axes, armor; the good stuff, useful stuff. True things of beauty they were, they'd bring a tear to a dead man's eye." Twilight bristled at the unusual saying, "I soon joined in on the contest. It became a festival, of sorts, all of the locals would watch us work and make comments, bets, suggestions, and it was a hot-bed of activity! Eventually, the king of the realm learned of this impromptu festival, and gave it some actual basis. He said that, 'The man who can make the best work here will be forever known as The Forgemaster, post hence!' In a fierce competition; I wound up on top. I believe at the time I was around 700 years old. I don't know if that's accurate, though."

"Wait! If you didn't know your name, what did others call you? I mean, you hadn't yet earned the title, so they had to call you something else, right!"

"Yes, they called me something, I'm sure of it. But, the memories from before are kind of fuzzy, and they always will be."

Twilight had been diligently writing down every word he said, but she looked up as he spoke the last sentence, "What do you mean, 'from before'?"

"Why, don't you know? I cracked under the pressure a while back. Lost my damn mind, quite literally." His eyes got a far-away look to them, "I only remember bits and pieces, like what I told you, parts of my childhood, some images without names, voices without context… it's all so very confusing."

They both sighed, both of them for the same thing but for different reasons: he sighed for the past he had lost and could never discover who he was, she sighed for the past he had lost because it denied her knowledge. He quickly recovered.

With a smile, he said, "Well, Twilight Sparkle, I've answered all of the questions that I'm going to answer today. Time for my test!"

"What do you want me to do?" Twilight asked, suddenly worried.

"Just turn yourself to the side, like so." He maneuvered her into position with his hands, "And, prepare for something."

He drew the newly crafted blade, named 'Shocking Revelation', but lovingly dubbed the 'Zapper'. He then stood over Twilight and gently poked her on the side with the flat part of the blade. The resulting *ZZAP* and a collapsed and unconscious Twilight confirmed that he had made his new toy well. Enough joules and watts had flowed into her that she was out instantly. A check of vitals confirmed that her heart was still beating, and a quick brain-scan confirmed she wasn't brain-dead. He picked Twilight up and moved her inside and onto his couch, he then attached a note to her snout saying 'Thank you, it worked perfectly. Please go home..'

All-in-all, a good day's work, at 35% power, the 'Zapper' would drop an adult sized pony instantaneously.

'What about something bigger?' He thought.

He ran off to Fluttershy's to find the answer.

wWwWwWw

The trip to Fluttershy's cottage was uneventful, save for a few ponies giving him congratulations or thanks. He arrived to find the lovely, yellow pegasus flying gracefully around her animal friends feeding them all whilst leading the birds in a beautiful song. It was truly the cutest damn thing The Forgemaster had ever seen. He politely waited for the mare and her friends to finish their song before approaching the frightful pegasus.

He made sure to announce himself from quite a distance away, though he was still greeted with an 'Eep' from Fluttershy.

"Hello Fluttershy, how are you today?"

"Oh, hello Forgemaster. I'm doing… fine." Fluttershy replied, though something was off, she appeared to have a bandage on her cheek.

"What's wrong Fluttershy? You can tell me anything, you know that."

"Well… I was in town the other day and some ponies were being mean and calling my animal friends names. So I tried to stop them, b-but they just laughed at me." She looked down at the ground and hid behind her mane.

"Did they give you that cut?"

"Y-yes. I got it when they pushed me to the ground."

His anger, no; his FURY, was palpable, "Who did it?"

"It was those same colts that you got in a fight with at Rarity's, and at the hospital." She was still looking at the ground.

When she looked up, The Forgemaster was gone.

wWwWwWw

The Forgemaster was stalking through Ponyville. He moved like a predator, seeing everything and moving silently. He was walking quickly, though not outright running. He had a target, and he would fine it. Though, he was still incredibly angry.

Ponies that he passed could hear him mumbling to himself under his breath about how, 'Hurting little baby Jesus is less of a sin than hurting Fluttershy', and that he would 'Banish them all to the darkest pits of Tartarus', or that 'Dying would be too good for those bastards'.

As he turned around the corner of a building, he spotted his prey.

The 3 colts were exiting Sugarcube Corner and were traveling to the side of town directly opposite his home. The Forgemaster devised a plan; his targets were traveling through the town to an area that was rife with back alleys and side-streets. He would pick them off one by one. He took a different route and waited for them in the shadows.

Just as he suspected, the colts were going to the only bar in Ponyville; 'The Watering Hole'. They had taken the shortest route, which was, consequently, the least traveled. The colts ducked through alleys and across streets. In simple terms; the perfect place for a terrifying event.

He turned invisible with his magic, and stalked behind his prey. He hadn't forgotten the lessons instilled in him by the assassin cell in Madrid, all those years ago. Every step he took was silent, every breath he took was noiseless, and every second brought him closer to his enemy.

Immediately behind the colts, he noticed that one wasn't contributing in the conversation taking place very much. He would be the first to go. He gently, ever so slowly, grabbed the Earth pony about the neck, and lifted him up into the air. The pony's eyes went wide and he tried to call for help, but there was an arm putting pressure on his throat and a hand over his mouth, though he couldn't see either. A mere minute and thirty seconds later and the colt was knocked out. The Forgemaster placed him inside a nearby trash can. He then resumed his pursuit.

The other 2 hadn't even noticed the other's disappearance, the fools. These 2 were much more involved with each other than the last one had been, so he would have to take them out simultaneously. Thankfully, his work was done for him: the leader of the gang took offense to something the younger colt had said, and started to give him the pony equivalent of a noogie. A perfect opportunity for an electricity based weapon, if ever there was one.

The Forgemaster quickly walked over, not even bothering to keep his invisibility up, and tapped the leader on the shoulder with the flat of his blade. Both colts were immediately knocked out, just as the other colt had been, and just as Twilight Sparkle had been.

He picked up both of the colts and carried them back through the alleys to where their compatriot was sleeping. After checking to make sure they were all still alive, he cast the invisibility spell once more and walked out of the city with them. At first, he had planned on taking them to Fluttershy's cottage to make them apologize, but he was struck with an even better idea: why not take them to the decrepit castle in the Everfree Forest?

Unfortunately, the castle was far too far away for him to make it there before these foolish colts wake up. In fact, one of them was stirring as he walked! He quickly made it back to Fluttershy's, the timid mare was still in the yard helping her animal friends. He deactivated the invisibility spell and walked over to her, he placed the condemned on the ground in front of her. Fluttershy gasped at the sight, but The Forgemaster didn't care: they had hurt Fluttershy! He walked over to the nearby river and filled a bucket full of the water; he then poured the water over the 3 colts. They all woke up cursing and sputtering.

The Forgemaster knocked some sense into them, and set them straight.

"Alright, you 3 dirt bags. You are all going to apologize to Fluttershy here, and you are going to mean it!"

Fluttershy was standing next to him, but wasn't saying anything. He couldn't see the expression on her face, but he doubted that it was very good. One of the colts was already apologizing to Fluttershy, and he could tell that the colt meant tit. He was off the hook, the other 2 weren't.

The leader, the biggest idiot of the 3, tried to sound brave when he said, "Or what?"

"Or I punch you until I break every bone in your body." The Forgemaster said, completely and utterly serious.

At that, the other colt bowed down before Fluttershy and begged her forgiveness, quite pathetically. He was off the hook, too. That left the leader, who was far too stupid to notice he had been beat. The leader hadn't said anything after that, so The Forgemaster turned to the first colt.

"Which one of you pushed Fluttershy down?"

The colt hesitated a moment, he was getting a glare from both his leader and The Forgemaster; it was just an exercise in who he feared more, now. The colt shakily rose his hoof towards the leader, proving that The Forgemaster could stare down anyone into doing anything, and simultaneously signing the leader's death warrant. The Forgemaster turned back to the leader, who was giving his subordinate a death glare, and drew his sword/prod. The leader focused his eyes on The Forgemaster and his eyes were suddenly filled with nothing but dread, fear, and terror.

As The Forgemaster readied himself for the killing blow, Fluttershy intervened, "WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIT!"

Fluttershy practically flung herself in the way of his slash, making him stop.

In spite of his need to kill the… beast… that would dare harm Fluttershy, he was proud of her. She really was the 'Element of Kindness' if she would stop him. Although, he assumed that practically everypony would try to stop him, considering what he was doing and most ponies' personalities.

He stared down Fluttershy for just a moment, to see if she would waver. Fluttershy didn't waver in the slightest. The Forgemaster grunted and sheathed his weapon in a special rubber sheath.

"You should count yourself lucky, foolish abomination of all that should be amongst the living. I was really going to kill you. You should apologize to Fluttershy, and then thank her, and then give her your undying obedience for the rest of your pitiable life!"

The Forgemaster turned away from the ponies and walked towards the Everfree Forest.

Fluttershy called after him, "Where are you going?"

He stopped and turned back, "I'm looking for a challenge!"

He then entered the forest proper, and prepared himself for battle.

*Spoiler Alert*

Fluttershy had never flown so fast in her life! She was flying to the library; she had terrible news for the others. She gently pushed open the window before flying in, and all of her friends were conveniently gathered within.

With the loudest voice she could muster, no more than a normal speaking voice, really, she said, "Girls, The Forgemaster has been admitted to the hospital!"