The Forgemaster was quite possibly having one of the worst nights of his life. And he had to put down a group of zombies in the dead of night once! Princess Celestia, in her infinite wisdom, had heard of his massacre of the diamond dogs bastards and forced him to go to an all-noble, high-society social function! Needless to say, he wanted to kill all of them, as he did the diamond dogs.

The Forgemaster was seated on a chair directly in front of the table loaded with foodstuffs. He held his head in his hooves and silently shivered, not out of sadness or self-pity, but out of anger! All of the other ponies had the good sense to not be anywhere near him, especially since he was armed with a fork. No telling the kind of damage he could do with a fork if he was pissed off. But, for all of the noble-ponies tact in distancing themselves from him, that didn't work especially well because he could still hear them. Celestia had forbidden him from using his magic to block out their incessant noise.

They prattled on about clothing and jewelry and food and the latest gossip.

He wanted to cave in their skulls with a hammer. Or a ladle, whichever he could find first. Then again, he was not adverse to using this chair… or that one… or perhaps that statue… maybe the chandelier? So absorbed was he in his musings about the quickest way to butcher all of the ponies in this room that he failed to notice the approach of a dignified noble-pony, this pony must have been important because he was surrounded by a group of other noble-ponies. It doesn't take a genius to know that if a noble-pony was being followed by other noble-ponies than this pony being followed must be quite important.

He did, however, notice when said pony spoke to him.

"I say, sir. You do not look like you are enjoying yourself at this little soiree." This pony must've been brave, very brave.

The Forgemaster did his best to remain polite, even under the circumstances; The Forgemaster hissed out, "I am struggling to restrain myself from physically assaulting all of the selfish, arrogant, hypocritical sycophants in this room, sir. These parasites without any ponyity (Humanity.), or dignity, or sense of self, or worth, they're as slick and slimy as an oil spill on an ice berg, and just as toxic. They can all rot in the deepest, foulest pits of Tartarus."

At this, the speaking pony's hangers-on took a large step back.

Surprisingly, the pony chuckled, and leaned in to whisper, "You don't know how many times I want to do that very thing, sir, and how similarly we feel they should meet in the afterlife. The name's Fancypants, nice to meet you." He held out a hoof, which The Forgemaster shook, gratefully.

"Crimson Hammer. It's always nice to meet a noble that remembers that the word has 2 meanings."

Fancypants took on a wry smile, "Hmm… yes. I remember reading something to that effect when I was but a foal… in school." He paused for a moment, "So what brings you here? You certainly don't appear to be enjoying yourself."

"In punishment for an action that I find to be incredibly justified, Celestia has forced me to come here." The Forgemaster waved a hoof back towards the bulk of the party, "She ought to be over there somewhere."

Fancypants inhaled sharply, "Indeed? I wasn't told that the Princess was here-"

"There is more than 1 princess. Celestia is not the princess, she is a princess. Don't disrespect Luna."

Fancypants bowed his head, "I sincerely apologize, and will do so if I ever meet Princess Luna, as well. It's been so long since we've had more than one princess, but I should have been more aware. But, back to my original point, I didn't see Princess Celestia, or a large crowd of ponies crowding her, are you sure she's here?"

"Yes, she is here. She took a card out of my deck and decided to come here in a disguise." The Forgemaster conjured a deck of cards out of nowhere and began to shuffle them, "No, you do not get extra points if you guess who she is. But, a big hint would be any pony that actively looks relieved."

Fancypants nodded, "I understand. I am hardly so important as any one of the princesses, but I have more than my fair share of ponies seeking my attention and gratification. I can only assume that it would be even worse for her." Here he hesitated for a moment, "Do you mind teaching me that spell? It's been ages since I was able to go to a bar like a normal stallion my age should be able to."

The Forgemaster's horn lit up for a moment, and then a small flash of light, accompanied by a soft noise was heard.

"Alright, you should know some basic transformation spells, now. Not enough to turn you into a dragon, but enough for you to change your coat-color, maybe your cutie-mark too, if you concentrate."

Fancypants blinked owlishly for a moment, and then said, "Did you just implant memories in my head?"

"Of course! Quickest way to teach without actually having to teach. Don't expect a repeat, though. I admit I took pity on you for a moment. Living in the spot light for anypony to see is quite stressful. It's nice to get out and be treated like anypony else for a little bit."

Fancypants smiled a genuine smile, "Thank you, Mr. Hammer, I am truly indebted to you. If there's anything you ever need, I'll help you with it."

The Forgemaster grinned, showing his suddenly sharp and shark-like teeth, "I might need some help smuggling some bodies out of Canterlot. Think you're up for it?"

Fancypants didn't bat an eyelash; he just waved a hoof at him and said, "Just bury them in the Canterlot labyrinth. Get far enough in and nopony will see."

The Forgemaster burst out laughing, and after a minute or so of die-hard laughing, wiped a tear from his eye and said, "I like you. If you know anything about me then you'd know that that is an accomplishment. I have a place down in Ponyville, if you ever feel the need to get away from busy-city life for a little while; my door's always open."

Fancypants put a hoof to his chin, "With some transformation spells and a safe house far, far from the city: I don't believe that I'll be going suicidal anytime soon." Both laughed at the joke.

"So, tell me about yourself, my good stallion."

"I am a stallion of refined if simple tastes. I enjoy fighting, fine liqueurs, long walks on the beach, the moonlight, meeting new ponies, pegasi, killing, and cooking. In fact, once while I was drunk and walking along the beach in the dead of night, a pegasi I have never met before attacked me and after a duel that lasted a few moments I killed him with a frying pan. Ah, good times."

Fancypants grinned at him, "You're kidding!" apparently not put off at all by the story, at The Forgemaster's nod Fancypants laughed and said, "I wish for an experience where I can tie all of my likes together in one, as you did."

The Forgemaster laughed along with him for a few moments before suddenly stopping and looking across the room, after looking back to Fancypants he sighed and made to stand up onto his hooves. He shook Fancypants' hoof once more before leaving.

As he left he said, "Celestia is calling me, can't leave her hanging if I want to spend any more time on this planet."

Fancypants chuckled and waved after his new-found friend, but was immediately crushed under the weight of the bottom-feeders coming back to him. He sighed, and then put on a forced smile, mask sliding back into place.

'At this rate, I'll be taking him up on his offer before he knows it…' Fancypants thought.

The Forgemaster made his way across the room, all of the ponies in his way subconsciously moving out of his way. He moved across the room, searching for his disguised quarry which he found within moments, the room was not all that large. He walked up to a group of about 6 ponies that were talking with each other, 4 of these unconsciously flinched away from him. His shear anger and hate for these noble ponies making itself evident through a subtle, though still quite noticeable, drop in temperature and a shiver running down the backs of anypony that so much as saw him in their peripheral vision.

He approached the group and gave the 2 mares that hadn't flinched a knowing smile, "Lunar Eclipse! Solar Flare! How does it feel to be the 2 most eligible bachelorettes in Equestria?"

The 2 mares, now dubbed Lunar Eclipse and Solar Flare, glared at him without saying a word. Some stallions who had heard the announcement, however, perked up and looked in their direction. The immediately looked away when The Forgemaster glared at them.

Solar Flare was a beautiful mare with a golden colt and a mane that ranged from red to orange as the light caught it, her cutie-mark was of a large star, similar to Twilight's, with a large spurt jutting off of it. Lunar Eclipse was noticeably shorter than her counterpart and possessed a striking dark blue coat and a black mane. Her cutie-mark, on the other hand, was of a similarly sized star but covered up, evidently a lunar eclipse shown. Both mares were beautiful, and both were unicorns. Both, unbeknownst to anypony at the party beside them and The Forgemaster were actually the co-rulers of Equestria in disguise.

'Solar Flare' smirked at him, "Not having a good time so we must bring down others, eh, Crimson?"

Pointedly ignoring her, The Forgemaster turned to 'Lunar Eclipse' and stage whispered, "Hey Eclipse! Want to know some gossip I heard about Celestia?"

While the other 4 nobles in the group gasped and Solar Flare rolled her eyes, Lunar Eclipse nodded eagerly.

Still stage whispering, "I heard that the reason Celestia never lets down her wings is because she doesn't want any pony to know when she gets a wing-boner!"

He and Eclipse started chuckling like mad ponies, fiendishly taking delight in the gossip. The other 4 noble ponies gave a gasp of distaste and quickly left the scene, while Solar Flare had to cut back her retort by biting her lip hard.

Taking great care to appear calm, Solar Flare said, "It would not be wise for you to say such things, Princess Celestia may catch wind of it." She put extra emphasis on 'may' so as to remind the 2 who exactly she was.

The 2 just chuckled harder, finding ironic delight in how hard Celestia was sticking to her role.

Eclipse spoke back, "Oh, come off it Flarey! Live a little! Quit being your old, stuffy self!"

"Yes, Flarey. It wouldn't do for you to fly off the handle."

The 2 stared at 'Flarey's blank face for a few more moments in silence, but soon struggled to keep in the giggles. They quickly failed, Eclipse breaking first and sputtering into laughter, which made The Forgemaster lose what little control he had.

'Solar' whispered angrily to him, "This was supposed to be your punishment!"

He whispered back, calmly, "And I'm taking some pleasure in it! A little. Do you know how annoying it is to even be near those things in ponies' bodies? They prattle on about useless stuff constantly! I only met one who I like, and he was swarmed by them. Poor Fancypants."

"Fancypants? That's who you met? I find him to be one of the easier to get along with nobles, and in fact, I like him more than any of the others. At least he doesn't propose useless additions to the city. He actually tries to help Equestrians in general."

The stallion in question arrived on the scene, surrounded by his crowd of cronies, "Oh, I say. Did I just hear a mare as beautiful as you sing my praises? Oh surely, this must be a gift from Celestia herself. I am truly honored for you to think that way of me, ma'am." He took Solar's hoof in his and gently kissed it, making the mare blush.

"Oh my, but this is too much!" The Forgemaster said, chuckling to himself.

"Miss, I believe my friend Crimson here told the room that your name was Solar Flare. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I believe you already know me, but I must introduce myself. I am Fancypants."

Celestia calmly said, "It is nice to finally meet you in the flesh, Fancypants."

Fancypants smiled at her and asked, "Would you do me the honor of going out later for dinner?"

Everything was silent.

Fancypants' sycophants were looking on in shock, even though they hadn't heard the conversation earlier and would have no idea that this was Celestia, they clearly had never seen Fancypants ask a mare on a date. On the other hand, he, Luna, and Celestia were silent mostly because of shock. As likely as not, Celestia had never been asked on a date. The Forgemaster had a feeling, a large feeling, that is, that Fancypants knew exactly who he was asking on a date. It didn't take a genius; you were just told by somepony that Celestia was here in disguise, said pony immediate goes off after saying that Celestia was calling him, the pony that the pony approaches is named Solar Flare. The evidence is obvious, in any event.

Solar's voice broke the silence, "Well, I don't see why not…"

"Excellent, I know the perfect restaurant we can go for dinner." Fancypants checked his watch, "Oh, bothers, it seems I must be somewhere, I'll talk to you later then Miss Flare. Have a nice day Miss Flare, Miss Eclipse, Crimson." Fancypants waved as he walked away.

The Forgemaster looked over to see a beaming Solar and a similarly affected Eclipse. The younger happy for the elder while the elder was just happy to be going on a date like a normal pony. Evidently, even in their boundless wisdom, they had rarely, if ever, gone out as normal ponies.

"Excuse me; I have to go speak with Fancypants."

The Forgemaster ran after Fancypants, and found him in moments down the hall he had left. The Forgemaster barreled through the crowd following Fancypants and settled into a more sedate pace next to the stallion. The Forgemaster leaned in towards Fancypants and had a quiet conversation with him.

"You know the mare you just asked out was Celestia, right?" he whispered, nopony hearing besides the intended target.

Fancypants whispered back, "I had my suspicions. But, that will hardly deter me from courting Solar Flare in a gentle-coltly fashion. Rest assured that I didn't ask just because she was a princess, I asked because I'd like to get to know the mare behind the mask she puts on as a politician. Trust me when I say that my intentions are in no way devious or anything but honorable. I don't intend for this to affect her duties as a princess either."

"Damnit, if you haven't covered all of my worries. Thanks, I was just here to make sure you knew what you were getting into. And, just so you know, she's my boss. And, whether or not I like you as a pony, if you mess with her: you'll be lucky to have any intact bones in your body when I'm through with you."

Fancypants waved him off, "Yes, yes. I'm sure my end will be suitably horrific. But I wouldn't try to hurt my princess intentionally. Or, my marefriend if it comes to that."

No reply came, so Fancypants looked over. There was nopony beside him, but there was a noticeable hole closing in the ranks of the leeches surrounding him. Evidently, The Forgemaster had made his escape, but was in no way gentle towards the noble ponies, as some looked to be nursing heads and favoring legs. Clearly, he had not been exaggerating nor lying when he had said earlier that he disliked noble-ponies.

The Forgemaster quickly hoofed it back to Celestia and Luna.

As he approached them, nopony nearby, he said, "You 2 chose awful disguises. You didn't change the basic concept at all! You're both dark and light, moon and sun, nighttime and daytime. It wouldn't take a genius to find you out."

Eclipse retorted, "Well so~rry! We don't have as much experience in this as you, you know."

'Solar', completely ignoring the argument, said, "I can't believe I've got a date! Oh, it feels like I am young again, getting all the colts to swoon with just a flick of my wings. It gets old, you know, sitting on a throne all day and inspiring awe and fear in equal measure in your subjects. It's nice to feel this way."

The Forgemaster shrugged, "Grass is always greener on the other side." The 2 contemplated that for a few moments, until he asked, "So, why was I called over here originally?"

Solar's eyes went wide in realization, "Oh, we received more intelligence on the griffons." After setting up a quick spell to block their voices from traveling anymore than a foot or so, Celestia continued, "Apparently, they've built up faster than we predicted. They should be ready to march on Equestria in little more than 3 months."

The Forgemaster thought for a few moments, before saying, "Give me your best pony and I can delay them by a few more months, maybe a year."

"What do you plan?"

"Supply depots and manufacturing centers plus explosives equals a few more month of peace for out little ponies."

"Alright, I'm sure if anypony can pull it off it would be you, Forgemaster. Anyway, our best pony in the field is a stallion by the code-name 'Silent Knife'. He is currently in Griffonia and gathering intelligence as we speak. We'll get you prepared and send you out there as soon as we can."

"All I need is a knife and a bow and arrows, along with those explosives. Or, if you want me to get all technological on their asses I'll need a suppressed pistol and a sniper's rifle, some detonators, C-4, a ghillie suit, perhaps some magnetic mines?"

He looked at the glazed over expressions on the other 2 and sighed, "Alright, just give me the explosives. I'll do it with my bare hands."

"Great! Let's get back to the castle and prepare, and I suppose there are some things you should know about Silent Knife. For one thing he, and all of our operatives, has had training in shape shifting, so he's currently under cover as a sergeant in the capital city's police force. And… he's a little… off…"