Twilight Sparkle had invited all of her friends over to discuss the latest information she had gathered about The Forgemaster with them. All of her friends were currently gathered except for Fluttershy. Fluttershy wasn't at her cottage the last time Twilight checked. They would just have to get stated without her, then. The 5 friends were sitting around her dining room table.

"Alright, girls: opinions on The Forgemaster. How do you all feel about him?" Twilight Sparkle asked.

"Well, Ah haven't really spent any time with 'im, but Ah'm sure he's a fine feller." Applejack said.

Twilight wrote what she had said down.

"He keeps telling me that he has to tell me something, but then he puts it off! I think he's hiding something from us, something that embarrasses him." Rainbow Dash said.

She also wrote that down.

"I'm not really sure what to make of him. He's a complete gentle colt whenever we meet, but the other day I walked in on him eating manticore meat!" Rarity said.

Twilight wrote that down, but said to Rarity, "Even though I know that that's awful; he did warn us, Rarity."

"Yes, I know dearie. But it was still an awful experience for me."

Twilight pointed her hoof at the last pony in the room.

"Forgey's awesome! He's tall and funny and smart and he totally gets me!" Pinkie Pie said.

The other ponies looked at themselves and at Pinkie when she said that he 'gets' her. To them, that was impossible. Nopony can simply 'get' Pinkie. Twilight sighed and wrote down what Pinkie had said anyway. Twilight then said her part.

"I think he's a complete and utter jerk! I don't think he likes me, either."

"Why's that, darling?"

"Yeah, Twi. He's been fine to the rest of us, why don't you like him?" Rainbow Dash interjected.

"Well, he won't answer my questions satisfactorily and he knocked me out when he was testing one of his creations!"

"Twi, has the thought that you might be buggin' the hay out of 'im crossed your mind? Ah mean, everypony else here has sat through your interrogations and your experiments. If yah don't like it when somepony else stonewalls you or tests his experiments on you than that's jus' hypocritical." Applejack said.

The ponies all looked at Applejack strangely; they were clearly not anticipating this sort of advice from the country pony.

Applejack noticed the looks, "What?"

"Oh Celestia! How could I be so stupid? You're totally right, Applejack. He obviously just doesn't like dealing with me! That doesn't mean that he doesn't like me, right?"

"Well, Twi. I think it's more like; he doesn't like dealing with the part of you that won't stop asking questions." Rainbow Dash replied.

Twilight nodded, as did the rest of the mares. They all understood what was meant when Rainbow Dash said that.

They were about to move on to another subject, but something interrupted them.

Fluttershy flew through the window; however, something was clearly wrong. Fluttershy looked as though she had just run a marathon. Fluttershy also had a very worried expression on her face, the only emotion she ever has usually, but this time it looked like something bad had happened. The feeling was only confirmed when Fluttershy opened her mouth to speak.

"Girls, The Forgemaster has been admitted to the hospital!"

"What happened!" they all yelled at the same time.

"I-I don't know. He walked into the Everfree after helping me with a-a problem. After a few minutes, I heard roaring and yelling from deep in the forest. And then he came walking out of the Everfree Forest, and he was… c-covered in blood. He looked hurt so I made him go to the hospital."

"How'd yah manage tah make 'im go to the hospital? That human is as stubborn as a mule."

All of Fluttershy's friends were looking at her, they were all interested too.

"W-Well, I just… asked?" she blushed.

"Ohhh." Said the rest in unison.

"Come on everypony, we gotta go to the hospital!"

wWwWwWw

The 6 mares ran to the hospital as fast as they could go. Rainbow Dash just flew ahead and made it to the hospital in seconds. As the other 5 entered the hospital, they could tell something weird was happening. For one thing, The Forgemaster was running in circles around a group of doctors and nurses, they were trying to restrain him. And another thing, Rainbow Dash was on the ground laughing so hard she was holding her aching sides. As the ponies started to listen to the conversation being held between the medical staff and the Forgemaster, they too began to laugh.

They were yelling at him, "Sir, you have lost most of your blood! Stop running around so we can give you a transfusion!"

"I'm fine damnit! I only broke my arm and some ribs, I'll be fine! Most of this blood isn't even mine."

The doctors and nurses eventually cornered him. He didn't want to hurt them, so he calmly surrendered to them. Unfortunately, protocol dictates that resisting patients must be sedated. The doctors and nurses all piled onto him, while one nurse hung back with a large needle and syringe. Even though he wasn't currently resisting, the nurse still gave him the shot.

Unfortunately for the staff, that only served to enrage The Forgemaster. He knocked the doctors and nurses off of him and ran towards the 6 laughing mares. He picked them all up with one sweep of his large arms and ran out of the hospital; the doctors and nurses following right behind him.

He focused his magic and made a portal appear in front of him. He ran through it and appeared, without a transition, in the library. He set the ponies down on the couch and sat down in front of them, breathing heavily. Running from the Everfree to the hospital and then away from the hospital then teleporting takes a lot out of you. After a few moments of recovering, he smiled brightly at the girls.

"Hi girls! I'm sorry about the mess."

He indicated their blood soaked manes and coats. Rarity hadn't noticed but she was absolutely freaking out now. The other mares were upset, too, but didn't get as frantic as Rarity did. Fluttershy passed out, however.

Twilight spoke up against the noise of Rarity flipping, "What happened, Forgemaster?"

He put on a posh, Canterlot accent, "Well, I was walking through the Everfree Forest and I came across a certain gentleman Hydra. As fate would have it, we start to have an argument over who, between the 2 of us, should live. I am happy to say that I wound up the victor of said argument, though he was able to make a few good points about how he should live, as evidenced by this and these." He indicated his broken forearm, and busted ribs.

"So you fought a Hydra, and won!" asked Rainbow Dash, clearly excited.

"Rainbow, if it bleeds, I can kill it. And, oh, how it bled." His eyes held ecstasy in them as he waved a hand down the front of him, showing the blood.

"Damn 'Zapper' was almost worthless, though. The Hydra's scales were resistant to the electricity; somehow, though once I got through the scales, he died quite nicely." He held up the blade in question for them to see, "See look, there's still a bit of Hydra intestine on it!"

He plucked off the offending organ and threw it in the trash.

Twilight was speechless, but managed to stammer out, "How can you even be standing!"

"Easy, Twilight Sparkle; I didn't break my legs, now did I?"

"But you should be in horrible, horrible pain!"

"Probably. I've had worse though."

None of the ponies were really paying much attention to what was happening, however. Fluttershy was K.O., Pinkie Pie and Applejack were trying to help her, Rarity was running around going off about her mane and coat, so that left only other 2 ponies listening to him; Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle.

"Why don't we take a few minutes to ourselves? Meet me at my place in like 40 minutes." He told the 2 mares.

He went home, always on the look-out for more doctors.

wWwWwWw

When he reached his home, he quickly undressed out of his now ragged clothing. He placed the clothes in a strainer and placed them in the sink, underneath the spout. He turned the water on and then went out back. He found a metal pole and went back inside. He searched through his cabinets and found bandages. He rapped them around the pole and his broken forearm, his left forearm. In seconds, he had a stilt, it wasn't pretty, but it would last for a minute or two, and that's all the time he really needed. He went upstairs and went into the shower to clean off the blood. He stay in very long, only long enough to clear off most of the blood, and was out within minutes.

Now came the hard part. He focused his magic and looked within himself. He saw the ribs that were broken, and directed his body to fix them. Using telekinesis to maneuver them into place, fighting through the pain to maintain his concentration, he then went about fixing them. He diverted blood cells and calcium from other bones to rush to the position. In a few minutes, the bones had healed fully; they had actually overgrown slightly, giving him a stronger rib cage. Because his task was completed, he dropped control of his bodily functions, once more allowing them to run normally. He would need to eat and drink more calcium in the next few days to replenish his supply, but that could be done later. For now, he focused on his broken arm and did the same thing he had done to his ribs.

Fully healed, he went back into the shower and gave himself a proper cleansing. After he was done with the scaldingly hot water, he went and got dressed. Fully clothed, fully healed, and newly washed, he went downstairs to greet his guests.

However, he had been quicker than he had realized. He had more than 15 minutes before the mares were scheduled to arrive. The perfect opportunity for an impromptu dinner! Like a gentleman, he prepared food for his guests. Mostly consisting of salads, cookies, and cupcakes, the meal didn't have much variety. The Forgemaster's pantry wasn't exactly stocked with pony-safe foods, as it were. The alcohol selection was diverse, however, and he set out enough liquor to get all of Ponyville at least tipsy. Not that he was planning on getting them drunk, it's just that different alcohols go with different foods, is all.

A knock at the door signified that his guests, or at least one of them, had arrived. He opened the door to reveal Pinkie Pie and Applejack, now clean, still carrying an unconscious Fluttershy, who was also cleaned.

'How did they clean her and she's still unconscious?' He thought.

What he said, though, was, "It's nice to see you, please come in! The food is already done."

"Hiya, Forgey! Did you make us food!"

"Yes, Pinkie Pie, and cupcakes and cookies, too."

"Ohmigosh! Really?" Pinkie ran into his home, leaving Applejack and Fluttershy at the door.

He smiled at the 2, "Hi Applejack, I can take Fluttershy from here."

"Thanks."

He picked up Fluttershy and waved Applejack inside, she nodded at his manners. He brought Fluttershy into the main room and set her down on one of the chairs.

Pinkie already had a plate full of cupcakes and cookies at each placemat. She had also sat herself in the chair next to his and barely restrained herself from eating. Apparently, she had enough sense not to eat until the others were here, though it clearly strained her to do so.

After a few minutes, the other 3 had arrived, and Fluttershy had awoken.

He went into the kitchen for a moment to bring in some utensils that he had forgotten for himself. When he came out, something was terribly wrong.

"Twilight Sparkle, that's Dash's seat."

Twilight had unknowingly sat in the seat with Rainbow Dash's cutie-mark on it. A small mix-up that was quickly resolved, though the others were wondering why exactly she had her cutie mark on her chair. They were also wondering why he had said 'Dash' and not her full name, as he did with everypony else.

He sat down at the table, and the others sat down as well. He decided that he was going to make an example of Twilight. She reached for the food that was on her plate, but he waved her down.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, Twilight Sparkle. We have to say grace first."

The ponies had evidently never said grace before, and were confused by what he was saying. They just watched him as he bowed his head, put his hands together, and then spoke.

"Dear Gods, we thank you for the food that you have provided for us. We thank you for the opportunities presented to us today, whether or not we took advantage of them. We thank you for concerned friends, who would drag the friend they thought was hurt to the hospital, even against their will." They all glanced at Fluttershy, who blushed and hid behind her mane, "We thank you for pony doctors, even though they were too stupid to realize that their medicine probably doesn't work on other species. We thank you for the lives you have sought fit to grant us. And I thank you for the chance to fight a Hydra. In your holy names, we give thanks. Amen."

He looked up at each of the ponies, and then said, "Alright, Twilight Sparkle, you may now eat."

wWwWwWw

About half-way through the meal, the ponies finally begged him to tell him what happened, and wouldn't take no for an answer.

"Alright, fine! Silly ponies, you drive me to drink." He took a sip of his wine, "Alright, this is what happened."

Epic Flashback

"So after I dealt with 3 demons in the guise of ponies, for only demons would dare harm Fluttershy, I went into The Everfree to find something a bit more challenging. Ugh, I seemed to run across every damn manticore in that accursed forest. I don't always go for walks in the Everfree, but when I do, I find every single damn manticore that can possibly be found. Well, anyways, after a couple minutes, I found myself in a swamp. Froggy Bottom Bog, it was called. I figured that nothing worth fining was in the swamp, so I turned to leave. As I did, though, an ominous noise came from the swamp, directly behind me. Like a giant creature rising from the depths of the murky water, and when I turned around: that's exactly what I found. A Hydra!"

The ponies were on the edge of their seats in anticipation. The Forgemaster took a sip of his wine before continuing.

"A true ancient and deadly fighter, he was. Hydra are born with 1 head, as they have the head chopped off, it grows 2 more in its place. This particular Hydra had 5 heads, meaning it was fairly old and very experienced. I certainly couldn't fight the thing in its element, well… I could but it would be risky, so I hurried to dry land and the great beast followed me. Once on dry land, I turned and faced the creature. Bastard had the audacity to pick up trees and rocks and throw them at me! Do you know how pissed I was? Very. I dodged around the first tree, and then the 2nd, but a rock I hadn't noticed hit me in the stomach, which is how I got the broken ribs. I was on my back on the ground, with the rock on top of me. So I push it off and yell at the Hydra. I yell, 'Sticks and stones may break my bones, but I'll tear your damn heart out, you muck sucker!'"

The ponies giggled at his childish antics, even during a life-or-death battle, his personality shifts were evident.

"So I pick up the rock the bastard threw at me and threw it right back. Hit the middle head right in the mouth. As it was distracted by the pain, a stupid thing to do if you ask me, I ran at the beast and raised my sword to plunge it into his chest. Couldn't though, one of the heads took a swipe t me, so I changed direction and chopped its lower jaw off, and then continued my charge. Just as I was about to jump into the thing, another of the heads swipes at me. I couldn't stab it, so I just rolled underneath it. I had lost my momentum, so I just went the easy route; I ran at the Hydra and slashed both of its legs as I went through them. I was kind of pissed when the blade didn't shock the bastard, though it still worked as a sword, thank the gods. It would take some very clever planning, or magic, if I was going to fight the thing without a weapon. But anyways, I had cut the Hydra's legs, and he couldn't keep himself up on them anymore. I had apparently done some serious damage to them. It fell on its back, directly on top of me, in fact. I managed to roll away from the brunt of it, but then one of its heads slammed the ground on my outstretched arm. Thankfully, the arm didn't shatter; that would have been more difficult to fix, it just broke. Needless to say; I was pissed. I slashed the damn thing as hard as I could, going all the way through its head, and saving my arm."

The mares were amazed around him, though Fluttershy looked a bit green. He took another sip.

"So, the Hydra was on the ground and missing one head. Given time; it could and would survive that. But, I didn't give it any time. One of its head landed just past the one I had severed, so I ran over and stabbed it through one ear-hole, and out the other. It wasn't cut off, but the head was still dead. After that, I jumped onto the body of the Hydra. I was going to make good on my promise. As it turns out, the Hydra can regenerate limbs, necks and heads, but it couldn't live through having most of its organs destroyed at once. I cut through the scales on its belly with my sword, creating a hole big enough to reach through. I stuck my hand into its chest cavity, and found the organ I was looking for. Unfortunately, it was too big to pull out on my own, so I stuck my blade all the way to the hilt into the hole. Apparently, the inside was not nearly as electricity resistant as its scales were. I had the thing cranked up to 100%, and it literally turned the insides of that Hydra into either mush or ashes. Within moments, the thing was dead. Having most, if not all, of your organs obliterated will do that to you. After that, I went back to Ponyville, again fighting my way through at least 3 manticores. I swear, they must breed like rabbits or something."

He looked up at the crowd of ponies; they all had tremendous looks of awe on their faces. Even Fluttershy, even though she probably angry that he had killed the Hydra. Applejack and Rainbow Dash looked as though he were the most kick-ass thing they had ever seen. Pinkie Pie nodded sagely as though she had already seen what had happened (Not completely impossible, either) and was pleased with the re-telling. Rarity had much the same look that Twilight had, one of pure shock: a magic-user not using magic when his life was in danger? Unheard of.

He started to laugh uproariously at their faces, and then said, "Back to the food, my little heroes, back to the food!"

wWwWwWw

A few more hours of food, drink, and games passed before the other ponies went home. Pinkie Pie had called his cupcakes perfect, and he had given a new idea to Rarity about a tuxedo, he had also asked her to fix the torn outfits, but she told him just to throw it out and that she could make another. Twilight had questioned him on his teleportation spells, but he brushed her off. Applejack told him about how stubborn he must be if he could walk off a fight with the Hydra like that. The ponies were almost as shocked as when he told them the ending of the story when he told them that he was completely healed. Twilight certainly had more questions for tomorrow, though he would be sure to speak loudly, the better to capitalize on her incoming hangover.

He judged that the ponies would all be able to make it home safely, even though many of them were either tipsy or slightly drunk, but stopped Rainbow Dash when she tried to leave.

"I'm sorry, Dash. But you're much too drunk to fly home. You are staying here tonight."

"I'm fine! I shwear." She slurred, obviously very drunk.

"Rainbow, you had 3 glasses of wine and 4 shots of whiskey! It's not even the weak wine, either. No, you are staying here tonight, and that's final."

He picked Rainbow Dash up and walked up the stairs with her, she was struggling in his arms. He went into his bedroom, and set her down on his massive bed. He tucked her in, said goodnight, and then went back down stairs. He then sat down on the couch, and prepared for sleep.