There comes a time in every man's life when he must revert to a child-like form for a little bit. Many have called this the mid-life crisis, where older men try and rediscover their youth through alternative means. The Forgemaster, by definition, cannot have a mid-life crisis, however, he can and often does become bored quite easily. As evidence, the night previous is the most recent event, but it is not the only such occurrence.

After the scheduled play time was over, which mainly consisted of raiding the kitchen, running about, and pranking and messing with the guards in various ways, the 3 went to 'the situation room'-as The Forgemaster jokingly called it-and discussed what had happened in Griffonia. The Forgemaster was correct when he said earlier that he had caused an explosion and no ponies were hurt. An innocent remark, er... kind of, coming from a foal, but what he had neglected to mention was that many griffons were killed in the explosion. Thankfully, he still had that recording of the explosion. Celestia and Luna both appreciated the video, though Luna liked it a whole lot more, most likely because Celestia knew that the explosion had taken lives, while Luna just took it at face value, either that or she just ignored the life-taking aspect of the multi-colored explosion.

The discussion about the mission was surprisingly simple. A few questions were asked and answered, all easily and efficiently. Nothing was left out and the princesses were both informed fully. A good debriefing if there ever was one.

Finally, after the rum had run out, The Forgemaster was allowed to sleep for the night in the castle. He had done so before, though he often didn't, and a room that was his was immediately across from his office for just such an occasion. After bidding his princesses a god night, he retired to his room and fell asleep.

wWwWwWw

The Forgemaster awoke to the sound of someone knocking on his door, a very loud and insistent knock. He groaned loudly and forced himself awake. While taking advantage of still having hands by rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, he focused his magic and transformed himself into an adult Crimson Hammer.

'How rude,' He was thinking, 'who in their right mind would wake someone up at… 11:30 A.M? Ugh… Rainbow's rubbing off on me…'

He stood off of the bed fully and walked to the door. Upon opening, it revealed a certain Captain Shining Armor.

"What, Captain?" he asked, as nicely as someone who had just woken from sleep could ask.

"Good… almost afternoon, sir." Shining Armor smiled cheekily, "The princess asked that you be summoned to break, er, lunch, and I volunteered. I figured it'd be faster to deliver the reports this way, without you running off to do who knows what."

"What're the odds of meat being served?" he asked, with the same cheeky grin on Armor's face.

"Slim to none, sir." With the same insufferable grin on his face.

The Forgemaster narrowed his eyes, "Cheeky bastard."

He stepped out into the hallway and walked towards the dining room, Shining Armor following along after him.

"Anything interesting happen recently, Captain?"

"Well, I was walking through the barracks this morning, I was startled to find a certain secret agent there by the way, and all of the guards were gossiping, like old mares they were, and all of the gossip was of you, strangely enough."

The Forgemaster shook his head, and said business like, "No, I did not have sexual relations with Princess Luna, those rumors are false."

He kept walking towards the dining room, but Shining Armor was shocked into freezing up. It took a solid 7 seconds for Shining Armor to catch up with him once out of his trance.

Shining Armor shakily asked, "Sir-"

He was cut off by The Forgemaster, "No, I was joking," He rolled his eyes, "honestly."

"Oh, thank Celestia." He breathed out, "Anyways, the rumors I was talking about, not whatever you were going on about, all centered around you having a 'play date' with the 2 princesses. Despite my best efforts, I couldn't stop them. I think it turned out well for you; honestly, the guards have been worrying about the princesses for generations, or at least; they've been worrying about Celestia for generations, Luna has only recently come back and I'm the first Captain in many generations of Captains to protect her. My predecessors and I have always worried that they haven't been getting enough off-time or fun, and then you came along and the princesses are smiling as happy as can be. The guards, foolish though the sentiment may be, care deeply for our princesses, not just by protecting them, but we also want them to have social lives of their own. You know, have a nice time instead of just working all the time. The guards, all of them, deeply appreciate bringing fun into their lives."

The Forgemaster stopped and turned towards the Captain, "So the guard has a misbegotten idea that they are collectively the princesses' older brother and they wanted them to get outside every once in a while, and I helped bring some light into their lives?"

Shining Armor hesitantly said, "Essentially, you've got the right idea…"

The Forgemaster grew a huge grin on his face and ran away yelling, "I'm telling Celestia!"

Somehow, magic probably, The Forgemaster easily outran Shining Armor, making it to the dining area in record time. Shining Armor ran after him, as quickly as he could, but couldn't keep up with him. Inevitably, he fell behind. That didn't stop him from running, however, he ran all the way down the stairs and hallways to the dining room. Shining Armor burst into the dining room, quickly spying a startled Celestia, Luna, and even Cadance, and an amused Forgemaster all sitting at the dining table and frozen in various stages of eating. The food present was standard pony-lunch affair, consisting of salads, fruits, and tea. Celestia took the time to finish her bite and daintily wipe her mouth before she spoke.

"Why were you running, Captain?" Celestia asked.

"Wha-, bu-, huh?" Shining Armor ever so eloquently replied.

The 4 alicorns in the room just stared back at him, The Forgemaster amused but hiding it behind his fork.

Eventually, Luna said, "Captain, there is no reason for you to be running about."

Shining Armor easily replied, "I apologize, princess." They noticed that he was giving The Forgemaster the evil eye though.

"Come Captain; tell us what you told me earlier." The Forgemaster said whilst smirking.

"I'd… really rather not…" he started.

"Oh won't you please tell us?" Cadance asked, with puppy dog eyes and a trembling lip; the ultimate weapon.

While Shining hesitated, The Forgemaster mumbled, "If you don't, I will." While taking a sip of tea.

That got him, Shining Armor sighed heavily, "Fine. The guards have collectively worried after the princesses' social development for generations. The fact that you have found a friend that you can act normally with, instead of as you do in public, is incredibly refreshing for the guard. The Forgemaster, or rather his pony counter-part Crimson Hammer, is nearly adored by all of the guards that I have spoken with for, and I quote, 'taking the princesses out of their shell'."

The heavy silence belied a tension in the room so thick you could cut it with a knife, fry it up, and eat it on whole wheat bread. It was building to an almost uncomfortable silence, one that needed to be addressed.

Just as Celestia opened her mouth to speak, The Forgemaster broke the silence by asking in a cheery tone that was completely out of place in the tense environment, "So Celestia how was your date with Fancypants?"

"WHAT!"

4 heads simultaneously rotated to face Shining Armor. Shining Armor wilted under the glares from 3 princesses and his boss, and hastily stammered out an apology.

"Honestly, Captain, "Luna said, "There's no need to yell, especially not indoors."

The other nodded their agreement with Luna.

After a few moments of 'politely' staring at the good Captain to make sure he got the message, Celestia turned back to The Forgemaster and said, "It was a fairly pleasurable evening. It's been too long since I've gone outside the castle walls as a normal mare. Even so, Fancypants was too much of a gentlecolt to make me feel as anything less than a princess. It was an entirely confusing evening, for me, though I imagine that any other mare would've fallen for him there and then."

"How was it confusing?" asked Cadance.

"Well, if you are treated as a princess for the majority of your life, and you sneak out so that ponies won't treat you as a princess, only to have the stallion you are on a date with treat you as a princess, it leads to a fairly confusing situation." Celestia explained.

"Which reminds me," The Forgemaster turned to Shining Armor, "Status report, Captain: what is the situation regarding code-named Operation Wedding Bells?"

While the other 3 alicorns looked on in confusion, Shining Armor saluted and then reported in a brisk, efficient manner, "Operation proceeding as scheduled, sir, target relationship within acceptable parameters. Next meeting with contact to be held at one 'Canterlot Oasis' at 2200 hours this Friday, sir!"

"Good, good; continue as ordered." The Forgemaster put his hooves together in a diabolical manner, "All is proceeding as I have planned. Muhahaha!" he then began to laugh evilly, shortly joined by Shining Armor.

While all stared at the 2 with blank, uncomprehending looks, The Forgemaster said, "Which reminds me, how's it going with Cadance?"

"It's going pretty good, sir, I want to try to take things slow, but they're going as well as can be expected. My next date with Cadance is at the 'Canterlot Oasis' at 10 o'clock this Friday." The 2 males then broke out into relatively normal laughs, though with the malice of the earlier laughter converted into mischievousness.

Their laughter was joined by the others' as they got the joke that they had done. Celestia's and Luna's musical, ringing laughter alongside the others' more mundane ones.

The Forgemaster finally stopped laughing and said to the couple, "Alright, you 2 kids: get out of here!"

They both began to walk out of the dining hall, but The Forgemaster yelled after them, "If you don't propose within the month I'll make you clean the latrines for a year!"

The Forgemaster leaned back in his chair, a content smile on his face, a genuine one, caused by the panic he had induced in his subordinate. Luna, Celestia, and he sat in silence for a few minutes, perfectly content with basking in the utter bliss of doing, and having to do, nothing.

'Well, nows as good a time as any…' he thought.

"So, Celestia, "He said, breaking the comfortable silence, "Why is it that this race of ponies is called Alicorn? If I had my way, we'd be named Pegacorn or Unicegasus! I mean, we have both horns and wings…" he trailed off sheepishly, recognizing the dumbfounded look on Celestia's face.

"Forgemaster, the reason is quite simple." She said, "I liked the name." she finished with a knowing grin.

The Forgemaster slowly grew a grin and then chuckled, soon to be joined by the other 2.

After that winded down, The Forgemaster asked, "So, Celly, what is your opinion regarding the guards selfless adoration of me?"

She smiled a shit-eating grin, "Please, Forgemaster, do not underestimate me. I probably knew about their attitudes regarding my social development long before they did. It started with unconscious mannerisms and so forth; I saw them and devised a simple solution to the puzzle: they were worried after me in a manner not entirely regulated by their job description. It's actually kind of flattering when you think about it."

They sat in silence for a few more moments before The Forgemaster said, "So, if you don't have anything to talk about… I'm just gonna vamoose."

As he slowly started to turn away, Celestia said, "Wait, Forgemaster, there is something I would like to speak with you about."

The Forgemaster turned back and raised a questioning brow.

"Forgemaster, I believe that now would be a good time to talk about what we have learned from each other." Celestia stated with all seriousness.

"Go ahead, I'm all ears." He said with a cheeky grin.

"Ever since we have exchanged memories, "Celestia began, "I cannot help but feel differently about some things. I noticed when instead of merely feeling irritated at the bureaucrats, I was actively angry with them. I believe that your memories and mine are becoming… skewed, as it were. Earlier this morning, I was even more put-off than usual at the usual antics of the nobles. I daresay that they are affecting me in subtle and almost imperceptible ways, and I am sure the same is happening to you."

The Forgemaster was silent for a few moments, calmly taking in the information and thinking on it.

"Wait…" he suddenly shouted, "You mean that's why I'm so talkative! Cause of your damned memories I can actually carry a conversation! Aw, shit." He was silent for a few moments again, "So that's why I've actually been experiencing emotions recently, cause of your happy-go-lucky mind-set affecting my cold-as-ice and I-don't-give-a-fuck personality. Damnit."

"I see that you are taking this much better than I had thought." She said, deadpan.

He angrily pointed a hoof at her, "Cause of you, I can feel things again! Do you know how long it's going to take to go back to an unfeeling asshole? That was my favorite thing to be! I think... I'm not sure now. Damn."

"And there's the anger, "She said, rolling her eyes, "But, honestly, is it such a bad thing?"

He glared at her, "It depends on how you look at it."

"Oh please, my angsty friend. While I'm sure that you are angered by this on a fundamental level, this can only be a good thing in a land like Equestria."

"I'm not angsty! Only emo and idiotic teenagers that think they have it bad but they're actually much, much better off than they know are angsty. I have a genuine reason to act as I do, they are just pussies."

While Celestia's glare had the force of a thousand suns and a lifetime of training in disappointed looks behind it, The Forgemaster's had the weight of an eternity of living in pain, suffering, and loneliness behind it. The Forgemaster felt that he could win with his patented 'Forgemaster Death Glare' (TM) while Celestia believed she had the upper hand with her 'maternal disappointment glare' and 'I control the freaking sun' glares. It was unclear which was more powerful, but they would continue until one or the other loses.

The 2 had a glaring/staring match for a few moments before they were interrupted.

"Excuse me, but what the hay are you talking about?"

The 2 turned towards the interrupter, a very confused Luna, simultaneously. However, both forgot to defuse their glares and gave Luna the full brunt of their combined glare power, almost immediately scaring her to death before they tuned it down.

The Forgemaster gruffly stated, "Long story short: Celestia wanted my memories, I said no and stole hers, later on I found that she was trustworthy and gave her my memories. Now, apparently, they are affecting us in various ways. I am becoming more like her and she like me, and undoubtedly both of us are afraid of the changes it might bring and are putting the blame, and taking our anger out on, the other."

All 3 looked stunned at the monologue, even The Forgemaster.

"That was, surprisingly mature of you, Forgemaster." Celestia said after a moment.

"I blame your damn influence." He relpied.

"Never mind…"

wWwWwWw

Shortly after this conversation, The Forgemaster teleported all the way back to his home in Ponyville. He appeared directly in front of his home, proving once more that accuracy is especially important in teleportation spells. No one wants to be teleported into a rock; you would die.

The Forgemaster went into his home so that he may get clothes and take a shower. The Spartan room he had taken for himself, combined with the rather abrupt awakening, prevented him from taking one at the castle. When he entered the house, he couldn't hear any sounds from inside. The Forgemaster concluded that Rainbow Dash was still asleep, she generally woke sometime past noon and it was about that time. Consequently, he decided to be sneaky, as too minimize any chances of waking Rainbow from her slumber. He walked up the stairs and went to the bathroom. When he opened the door, he discovered that Rainbow Dash was not, in fact, asleep but she was just stepping out of the shower.

As it turns out, 2 seconds before The Forgemaster opened the door, Rainbow Dash turned off the water in the shower. And 2 seconds before he stepped through the bathroom door without knocking she had opened the shower curtain to step out.

She took one look at him and then wrapped the shower curtain around her while screaming, "Get out, you buck head I'm naked! Get out, get out, get out!"

The Forgemaster arched a brow and said, "You walk around outside naked every day."

She yelled back, "But I'm not wet when I do!"

"How does that change anything?" he asked, still in the doorway.

"Sh-shut up! I'm a mare and I have the right to be inconsistent!" she screamed.

The Forgemaster shrugged as best he could as a quadruped and stepped out of the bathroom.

Arguing with Rainbow had zero positive benefits. On the one hand, he knew he was right but she would never change or admit that, so he kept it to himself. And on the other hand, continuing the argument would only lead to punishments… well, as big a punishment as Rainbow could give. Not that big, come to think of it.

Rainbow came out of the bathroom no more than 40 seconds later, completely dry, probably some sort of dark, female, magic that only females know. The Forgemaster took his turn, and then got dressed.

As soon as he was finished, Rainbow came up to him and said, "Hey! I made some cool new tricks, wanna watch me practice?"

The Forgemaster nodded and went with Rainbow to one of her usual practice grounds. He sat under a tree and leaned against it. After watching Rainbow's hypnotizing motions across the sky, The Forgemaster began to doze off. Finally, even though he woke up no more than an hour before hand, The Forgemaster fell asleep.

Probably some kind of dark, male, magic that only males know.

(A/N – Next chapter is going to be that pet episode, the one where Rainbow gets Tank. And yes, Forgey gets his own. I've already thought the pet up and it's going to be truly, epically, unique.)