By the time The Forgemaster returned home, it was far too late to do anything. He simply went to sleep. For once, his sleep wasn't disturbed by either his memories or a pony waking him in the middle of the night. When he woke up the next morning, he quickly went through his normal routine of washing, changing his clothes, and then eating a nice breakfast comprised of mostly manticore bacon, manticore eggs, and manticore bread. Don't ask how manticore bread is made; suffice to say that it involves a shredder, flour, and parts of manticores.

Immediately after he was done eating, somepony knocked on his door, he went to go answer it.

The second he opened the door, Rainbow Dash tackled him yelling, "Forgey!"

Holding the hugging pegasus to his chest with an arm, he said, "Good morning, Rainbow."

Still in his arm, he looked up at him, "Where did you go yesterday? I wanted to talk to you."

"Something came up, I had to go to Canterlot, and we can talk now if you want."

"Okay!" she dropped out of his arm and ran into his living room.

When he entered the room immediately after her, she was sitting in her very own cutie-marked chair. He went and sat down in the chair across from her.

"So, what is it that you wanted to talk about?"

"Do you wanna be my colt-friend?" she suddenly blurted out.

He hesitated for a moment, "Sure…"

"YES!" she screamed while she hoof-pumped.

"Anything else?"

"Well, did you want to talk about that… conversation?" she asked sheepishly.

"Not especially, but I can tell that you do."

With an indignant grunt, she said, "Why don't you feel?"

"Defense mechanism."

"But, you said that you didn't even want friends." She said, insistent.

"If I don't have friends, then when they die I don't care."

"That's not very smart!" she yelled.

"It is better to be eternally lonely than to grieve for your fallen comrades." His voice sullen

She paused for a second, "It doesn't sound like you believe that."

He growled so low it was almost imperceptible, "Imagine everypony that you've ever met dying, while you still live. At first, your way is the correct way: continue to make friends and be social. But, after a few centuries go by, that doesn't work anymore. The dead friends that you constantly remember build up and compound themselves, so much so that you would do anything to stop it. You figure, 'If it hurts this bad now, then making new friends would just make it worse when they, too, die.' And you would be completely, and irrevocably, correct."

She was glaring at him now.

"I am no stranger to death, Rainbow, but death is a stranger to me."

"So you're just gonna live your life a cold, heartless, friendless, and lonely old man?"

"I'm far from heartless, how else would I pump blood? And, I said that I try not to make friends, but you damnable ponies seem to be making that impossible for me. As for being cold and lonely, well, they are both necessary."

"What do you mean by that?" she asked.

"Were I not a cold being, I would have likely killed myself centuries ago. Being cold is the only thing that has kept me from caring too much. If I care, then when whatever I care about dies or is lost, I become sad. Get sad enough and I might just off myself." He gave off a stifled laugh, "Even as cold as I am, or try to be, someone always manages to crack my shell. There is a thing, a state of being in my people's culture that aptly describes what I am: comfortably numb."

He looked Rainbow Dash dead in the eye.

"When you, too, leave me. Know that I will remember you as one of the few good ones."

She looked at him with hurt in her eyes, "I would never leave you."

"Unfortunately, when you die, you will. You have to."

He sighed, "Can we get off this topic? It never ends well for me."

"No! We will keep talking until you tell me that you love me!"

"Rainbow Dash, I care for you, I really do, but asking for more than that right now isn't a very wise course of action."

She huffed and then walked towards the door, "Don't even think for an instant that we're done here! I'll be back!" She slammed the door.

He stared at the door for a few minutes, wondering just how much crap he would have to deal with later. Just as he was about to leave, he realized something: he was still bored! Then, something struck him: he was a duke, a Lord-General, and Celestia's personal lapdog: he could finally have some work to do! He didn't care about the titles, but they did bring some much wanted responsibilities to his table, something for him to distract himself with.

'Oh, why can't the griffons just attack right now? I need something to kill!' he thought.

But then he remembered Rainbow Dash and something strange happened; he felt bad! Strange. That rarely happened to him anymore. Rainbow Dash probably wanted to kill him now. He looked back at the door for a moment, and then turned around and headed out to his forge.

"Loneliness," He began quietly, "Is a curse that always strikes the strongest. Even I cannot defeat it, because it is not something that strength alone can destroy. It requires friends, and friends require effort, and effort requires caring, and caring requires feelings, and feelings leave over the centuries, leaving only the ones that hurt."

He stepped out into his backyard that was littered with tools and random piles of metal ingots, whistling a happy tune. If anyone was watching, they would've seen a perfectly normal person, but underneath his façade, he was troubled.

wWwWwWw

(Screw Chronology once more!)

After mixing quite a few elements that, apparently, didn't like being near each other, The Forgemaster learned firsthand what a Cesium bomb looks like. As it turns out, in addition to being violently explosive, it's also deliciously explosive!

"Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu-"

He crashed into the side of a building that was… actually not anywhere nearby! As most of the house came down around him, he quickly hurried out of the room as a large cloud of dust enveloped him and some nearby ponies. He ran to the other side of the street and looked back at the house he had just demolished with his own body.

He brushed the dust off of his clothes and coughed up some of the same. His eyebrows were burnt off, much of his hair went with it, and his face had been flash-sunburned. His clothes were in slightly better condition, due to the magical energies coursing through them, they had also borne the brunt of the explosion.

"Ohmigosh! Are you okay!"

'Oh wonderful, Twilight Sparkle.' He thought.

"I didn't know that I could make a thermo-nuclear warhead without nuclear materials. Good to know, actually." He replied.

He looked over at Twilight and noticed for the first time that she was kind of… off, that morning. Her eyes were manic, her huge smile obviously forced, and she had probably snapped. He was going to have to distract her so she can regain her senses.

"Is there anything I can do as a good friend?" she asked, leaning far too far into his personal space.

"We aren't good friends, Twilight Sparkle; I would barely even call us acquaintances. But, I suppose there could be something you can help with."

"What is it! I'll do anything!" she screamed at him.

He grinned at her choice of words, "Good, because I've got a serious case of blue balls."

Twilight was incredibly confused, "W-What?"

"Never mind that, do you know anything about the transmutation of metals into another metal?" he asked.

"I think I have a spell for that. What do you need?"

"It's back at my hopefully-not-destroyed house! I am going to create my personally favorite metal: Adamantium. It's impossible to create single-handedly."

The 2 walked towards The Forgemaster's house, where a large mushroom cloud was just now dissipating.

"What's Adamantium, and why's it called that?"

"Well, Adam was the first man, and Adamantium is the first amongst metals! A strange metal too. Acts nothing like one, but cannot possibly be classified as a non-metal."

"Why's that?" her innate curiosity overcoming her mania

"It doesn't act like one. It barely conducts either heat or electricity. But, it's lustrous, solid at room temperature, and dense as fuck! You couldn't cut it with a diamond. The only way to get through it is to heat it up, but since it barely conducts heat it takes a lo~ong time to do that. That makes it perfect for armor and swords! No one in their right mind would stand in a fire for the enemy."

By the time his explanation was complete, they were already at his house. He quickly lead her though his living room and out to the back yard. He grimaced at the sight of his backyard. Strangely, nothing much was destroyed, everything was just thrown every which way! Even his fence was intact. Apparently, he had been standing at the perfect angle to be thrown that far from the explosion.

He quickly gathered the necessary ingredients. One ingot of gold, 4 of bronze, 7 of copper, and 72 of iron! He then lectured Twilight on the task she volunteered to perform.

"Alright, Twilight Sparkle. The bronze, gold, and copper go inside the smelter. After they are liquid, you must add the ingots of iron to the ore whilst simultaneously transmuting them into titanium. It is impossible to maintain concentration on the transmutation, the levitating, and load coal for the smelter all at once so I'll handle the levitating and the shoveling, you just concentrate on the transmuting. It requires very accurate timing, the transmutation must be allowed to finish half-way through, and then into the ore it goes!"

2 hours later, all they had to show for their work was a half-dozen golden ingots of Adamantium. Twilight Sparkle was coated in sweat and exhausted, using that much magic had really drained her. The Forgemaster looked haggard, though he hadn't changed from when he started; his haggardness was due to the earlier explosion. Between the 2 of them, Twilight was simultaneously more shocked, and more insane.

Staring at the 6 ingots she said, "But, how? We put more than 80 ingots into the smelter!"

"I told you; those things are dense! One of those ingots probably weighs a ton." He paused for a moment, "You can go now, I've had enough of your help for the day, you can go."

She still looked crazy, the eyes gave away her strained mental state the most, "But, I haven't learned anything for the Friendship report! I'm gonna be tardy!"

He raised a brow at her, "You came to the one person in Ponyville who actively tries to not have friends for something that has to do with friendship?"

She ignored him, and looked around in an insane manner, muttering to herself under her breath. She then suddenly jumped away from him screaming something about a picnic.

He rubbed his temples with his thumb and middle finger, "I'm going to have to follow her, aren't I?" he asked no one in particular.

He sighed, "Yeah, I thought so."

He then walked in the same direction she had gone.

wWwWwWw

As he made his way down the main street of Ponyville, Spike came up to him.

"Hey, big guy! You seen Twilight anywhere?"

"She came by my house and helped me with something, and then she ran away screaming something about a picnic."

"Alright, follow me!"

Spike ran off towards the open fields just before the Everfree forest, The Forgemaster following just behind. Spike and he came upon the other 'Elements' in time to see Twilight run off.

"Crap, there she goes. I'll go get her."

The Forgemaster ran off towards where Twilight had ran off to.

"Wait! Where are you going?" Rainbow Dash asked, flying after him.

Continuously running, he asked, "Did you notice anything… off about Twilight?"

"Yah, she was freaking out about a late letter to the Princess."

"Shit! So, that's why she snapped."

"Huh?"

"The only thing Twilight Sparkle hates more than dealing with me, is being late with anything ever, or maybe being unorganized, and possibly being wrong. I assume she went off the deep end of her own sanity."

"That sounds like Twilight…"

They continued to run, or fly in Rainbow's case, after Twilight. They found her in a few minutes near a crowd of ponies fighting over… a doll? As soon as they saw the doll, Rainbow Dash leapt into the fray, trying to get the doll. The Forgemaster, on the other hand, was used to dealing with his own urges, so while he still felt the spells pull as much as the ponies did, it didn't affect him as it did them. There is something to show for self-discipline.

"What the actual fuck, Twilight Sparkle?" He said upon reaching her position on top of the hill.

She was startled in a way only a thief caught red-handed could be, "W-Why aren't you affected by the spell?"

"Never said, I wasn't. Right now I would like nothing more than to go into that crowd of ponies and make sweet love to that doll, but, then again, I couldn't care less about the doll. Now what the hell did you do?"

"I-I used a 'want it need it' spell on the doll, and then things spiraled out of control."

"Hmm… I could fix this, but then you wouldn't learn anything. So, I'm just gonna lie back and watch you get yelled at by the princess in… 38 seconds."

At that moment, the other 'Elements' decided to show up, except for Rainbow Dash who was still fighting a large, red stallion he had never seen before over the doll. The Forgemaster was now lying on his back with his hat over his face, looking as though he were taking a nap.

"Y'all hear that? What in the name of all things oats 'n apples is goin' on here?" said Applejack as she arrived.

"Don't look at it!" screamed Twilight right back at her waving hr hooves around madly.

"In a word, Twilight Sparkle: Eloquent." declared The Forgemaster from his position.

"Don't look at what?" asked Rarity

"My Smarty Pants doll! I enchanted her and now everypony is fighting over her!"

"Smarty Pants?" questioned The Forgemaster.

"Why would you enchant your doll?" whispered Fluttershy, or maybe yelled, it all sounds the same, really.

"Oh, I had to do something! I had nothing to report to Princess Celestia! I thought if I couldn't find a problem, I'd make a problem! The day is almost over!" explained Twilight

"Not almost!" Applejack pointed at the sun, which chose that specific moment to dip below the horizon.

In a flash of bright, white light, which caused The Forgemaster to yell about inconsiderate ponies interrupting his nap even though he wasn't, Princess Celestia appeared. She quickly cast a spell remedying the situation, and turned to Twilight.

"Twilight Sparkle!" she said.

"Whoa nelly." Applejack backed up.

"Meet me in the library." Apparently, Celestia was a little miffed.

"Yeah, you get 'er Tia!" said a certain human, lazily adding to the conversation.

"You too!" Celestia said before zapping off, presumably to the library.

"Blood and damnation!" the Forgemaster cursed quite loudly, before shoving his hat back on and walking towards the library.

"Goodbye girls. If you care to visit, I'll be in magic kindergarten, back in Canterlot." Twilight said, following The Forgemaster.

Along the way to the library, The Forgemaster tried to make conversation with Twilight, and failed. Mostly because it was more like complaining that he was getting in trouble rather than anything Twilight actually did, for once.

Once in the library, The Forgemaster managed to stay out of the conversation; in fact, he ignored it, and went into the corner and leafed through some books. Until Celestia tried to include him in the conversation.

"Do you have anything to add, Forgemaster?"

He had no idea what the conversation had been about, "Hmm… Twilight Sparkle should be put into prison, and then banished, and then put into prison in the place she was banished to."

Twilight visibly paled when he said that.

'How can she pale? For that matter, how can ponies blush! Ugh, this place is so confusing' he thought, and then thumped his head on the table.

Celestia raised a single brow, "I take it that you were zoned out and didn't hear anything we said?"

He grinned cheekily at her, "Nope! I just ignored you. Waiting for my turn to get yelled at."

Twilight's jaw dropped from what he was saying, surely he wouldn't get away with saying that to the princess? And, to her astonishment, she did!

She rolled her eyes at him, "Well, it's not like it had anything to do with you. And, just don't call me Tia in public, I've told you this!"

He looked down in false sadness and spoke in monotone, "Sorry, Tia…"

Twilight's friends chose that moment to enter the library.

"Wait!" yelled Rainbow Dash.

"You can't punish her!" added Pinkie.

"It wasn't her fault!" declared Applejack.

Celestia replied with a stern, "I'm listening."

Fluttershy started, "Please, your highness. We all saw that Twilight was upset..."

Rainbow Dash picked it up next, "...but we thought that the thing she was worrying about wasn't worth worrying about."

Over to Applejack with the weather, "So when she ran off all worked up, not a single one of us tried to stop her."

Rarity comes in with the traffic report, "As Twilight's good friends, we should have taken her feelings seriously and been there for her!"

Fluttershy gave the salutation, "Please don't take her away from us just because we were too insensitive to help her."

Celestia stood there for a moment and looked down on her little ponies, "Looks like you all learned a pretty valuable lesson today."

The ponies all hummed a response in the positive.

"Very well. I'll forget Twilight's "punishment" on one condition."

The mares all agreed to that.

"From this day forth, I would like you all to report to me your findings on the magic of friendship, when, and only when, you happen to discover them."

While the ponies opened their mouths to say yes, or cheer, or whatever it was they were going to do, The Forgemaster spoke, "Oh, Hell no!"

Celestia sighed, "Don't worry, you don't have to."

"Good, because you wouldn't ever get a letter from me."

The others in the room glared at him for his 'disrespect', but Celestia knew that this was his colorful way of declining a task, and stating what would happen were the task to be given. He didn't actually mean any disrespect.

Celestia made as though to leave, when Twilight said, "Princess Celestia, wait! How did you know I was in trouble?"

"Your friend Spike made me aware that you were letting your fears get the best of you. I commend him for taking your feelings seriously-"

"And, for the record, I warned the good princess on the fragility of your sanity beforehand." interjected The Forgemaster.

"-Now, if you will all excuse me, I must return to Canterlot. I'm expecting some mail."

While Twilight was glaring at The Forgemaster, Applejack said, "Y'all heard the Princess. Spike, take a letter."

"Dear Princess Celestia, we're writin' to you because today we all learned a little somethin' about friendship." Began Applejack.

"We learned that you should take your friends' worries seriously." continued Fluttershy.

"Even if you don't think that she has anything to worry about." Continued Rainbow Dash.

"And that you shouldn't let your worries turn a small problem..." Rarity said

"...into an enormously huge entire-town-in-total-chaos Princess-has-to-come-and-save-the-day problem." Interjected Pinkie

"Signed, your loyal subjects." Finished Applejack.

"P.S. Obviously Spike did not have to learn a lesson, because he is the best, most awesome friend a pony could ask for. Unlike everypony else, he took things seriously, and-"

He sputtered off and then stopped when he noticed the glares the mares in the room were giving him. After which, they all shortly laughed at him.

They all started at the sudden noise of a guitar being strummed. They looked over to The Forgemaster who was looking out the window from the couch while lying on his back, holding his guitar. He began to sing a song, and strummed his guitar to the tune.

With a voice with an almost ghostly quality to it, he sang:

Hello, hello, hello

Is there anybody in there

Just nod if you can hear me

Is there anyone at home

Come on now

I hear you're feeling down

I can ease your pain

And get you on your feet again

Relax

I'll need some information first

Just the basic facts

Can you show me where it hurts

There is no pain, you are receding

A distant ship smoke on the horizon

You are only coming through in waves

Your lips move but I can't hear what you're saying

When I was a child I had a fever

My hands felt just like two balloons

Now I've got that feeling once again

I can't explain, you would not understand

This is not how I am

I have become comfortably numb

O.K.

Just a little pin prick

There'll be no more aaaaaaaah!

But you may feel a little sick

Can you stand up?

I do believe it's working, good

That'll keep you going through the show

Come on it's time to go.

There is no pain you are receding

A distant ship smoke on the horizon

You are only coming through in waves

Your lips move but I can't hear what you're saying

When I was a child

I caught a fleeting glimpse

Out of the corner of my eye

I turned to look but it was gone

I cannot put my finger on it now

The child is grown

The dream is gone

And I have become

Comfortably numb.

(© Warner/Chappell Music, Inc. Pink Floyd)

The silence after such a performance was palpable.

Rainbow Dash understood why he had said that he was comfortably numb: better to feel nothing than only pain.

(A/N – And…. on that cheery note, the chapter is done!)