I awoke in a dark room on the floor, right next to a large pile of debris and other forms of trash. I placed my hand against my head and mumbled small curses to myself as a jolt of pain was sent to me through the powerful headache. I slowly edged myself up and looked around the room and found a small lantern lying on the ground, just out of arm's reach. I stood to my feet and slowly paced over to the lantern and gave it a quick inspection as I picked it off the ground. It still housed a bit of oil and all it needed was a small flame to work.

As I held the lantern in hand, I noticed I felt lighter than usual. I gave myself a quick lookover and I had been stripped of my armor and weapons. “Great.” I focused my energy through my body and after a moment of constant focus, I channeled the power through my arm and cast a small inferno spell and created enough power to light the dark lantern.

With the item lit, it quickly illuminated the entire room. The walls were made of stone, with dead vines and moss growing across its canvas. The once smooth tile flooring had long since cracked and shattered. And within the small room, stood a door. A small wooden door. I approached it and as I placed my hand across the handle, I felt something warm emanating from the room on the other side. Without any effort, the door cracked open and it revealed a long dark corridor.

“Great, because nothing bad happens to people in long, dark hallways.” I said sarcastically.

I slowly made my way through the hall, I would hear the occasional rock fall from the roof and the sound of rushing water, but other than that it was a peaceful walk. The heat began to slowly rise as I cautiously made my way through the hall. I needed to find the exit, and tell the others that I was safe but my thoughts were interrupted by the sound of clashing metal. A loud chime rang throughout the air as I began to near the end of the corridor and there stood the only other door besides the door I originally came out of. It was large and covered in fragments of skulls and drenched in dried blood. “Nothing creepy about that.” I said again in a sarcastic tone.

I began my approach on the door and lightly pushed it in. As it slowly cracked open and created a little slot for me to see through, I saw that it was the entrance to a smithery. The sound of clashing metal rang loudly from the room and the heat emanated against my skin warmed my cold body. Through the small crack, I tried to find the source of the chimes but couldn’t manage to look about the entire room. I pushed the door even further and slid through the small crack. The room was lit only by the raging flame of the smithing station, the constant chimes of metal against metal rang loudly as I made my way towards the large station.

As I made my way over to the light, my foot caught on a rock and it fell to the ground and bounced around for a brief moment. As it struck the ground, the sound echoed through the room and alerted a dark figure standing in front of the smithery. It quickly turned to look at me and raised its head. Even though the room was well light, he was shrouded in darkness. His eyes glowed with a bright orange light that shot out from the shadows.

“Hello, I was beginning to wonder when you would wake up John. Welcome back.” The dark figure was well built, with a black apron hanging around his neck and a large hammer held within his mighty grip.

“Welcome back?”

“Yes, I already know you’re John Senior’s boy, and that you’re the newest guardian. When I had heard that you were back, I had waited here in this place of many memories. I have waited here for your return for many years.”

“You keep saying that I’m ‘back’, I don’t understand. I wasn’t born here, I was born on earth.”

“You may have been brought into the world of men, but you’re spirit and soul remained here. You were raised here, with the order. I’m not surprised you don’t remember any of this, but your brother would have much knowledge of this.”

“How do you know about Shadow? I haven’t told you about him.” I questioned the imposing character.

“I know many things, and most of all, I know you and your many adventures. Both in this land and the world before. I have watched you for many years, but that is what one does... for family.”

“What?”

“I would like to introduce myself” The tall, dark and imposing figure stepped into the light, allowing me to gaze upon his face. He had a manly bearing, like an elderly version of myself. A neatly trimmed beard and a familiar face.

“My name’s Firefist, and I was the legendary blacksmith for the mighty protectors of Equestria. My son was the bravest of souls in the guild, but when his heart was betrayed by the master, he sought to return to the world of man. My heart was loyal to the guild and even though they have long since passed, my loyalty remains. I am your Grandfather, but you have no true ties to me. Our only link is the blood that runs through our veins, but the rest is blank. I have watched you grow into a man, much like your father and I am proud to call you my grandchild.”

“You’re not my grandfather, I met my granddad back on earth! You can’t be...” I was shocked by our meeting. The entire fragmentation of our meeting was sketchy and unannounced.

“But I am dear child, the grandfather you knew was from your mothers side. I once met him, back on earth. I could never understand the man” he seemed flabbergasted,“The man spoke a million words per second. That was the first and last time we met, and just to ensure that happened, I returned here, to Equestria.” The statement made me laugh a bit, that one grandfather’s speech caused the other to hid away in another dimension. I did understand his reason though, I did love my grandfather, but he did ramble most of the time.

“Wait, was that you in the room? With me, Axton and Terra Firma?” The thought was sudden but I needed to know.

“Did you say Terra? So that Dragon covered in that magnificent set of armor was Terra, eh? That last I seen of that dragon was when he was a little drakeling studying under me. But to answer your question, yes. That was me.”

“How did you move so quickly? It was like you were a shadow.”

“I profess in Smithing, but enchantments are the true reason behind my swiftness. While I am still well protected behind a shield of armor, I can move faster than without it. I am a master of the anvil, but the enchantments are sadly not my own. I made the armor that protect me, but the enchantments came from the one known as ‘Turning Gears’, The last I heard of the soul, he was wandering the countryside, enjoying his time left in these plains.”

“That’s amazing, but I have another question.”

“Ask and I will answer.”

“Where’s my gear and armor?” I asked.

“You mean your fathers gear. I know that he gave it to you, but I could tell it was his armor for I crafted it specifically for him. I seen that it was damaged and I simply repaired them, though you are still missing the greaves and the hood to complete the set. As for your gear, it’s over in the chest over there.” He pointed over to a chest next to the smithing station and spoke once more,“Again, you’re missing some things to complete your arsenal.”

“What about this hood? It serves its purpose, shielding my eyes.”

“This is true, there is nothing wrong with the one you’re wearing, but the guardian hood was made for both protection from the sun as well as an onslaught of attacks.”

“Where do you think it is?” I asked Firefist.

He strode over to the chest and began to dig through the assortment of gear. “Well, I was surprised that your..” he let out a small grunt as he shifted the items around inside the chest. “father left it here, I guess that he wished for you to find it in this old relic of a fortress. As for him scattering the set throughout Equestria is far beyond me.” He placed it down beside the smithing station on the wooden table holding my fully patched armor. “You better get ready, your friends must be worried for your safety.”

I strode over to the table and began strapping the armor on, I removed my old hood and pulled the new armored hood over my head. I pushed the hood down off my head and let it rest on my shoulders. It was lightweight but it was strong. As I finished strapping the armor on, I turned to Firefist and thanked him. “Thank you grandfather, this is an amazing gift.”

“You look like your father in that armor.” A tear ran down his cheek as he smiled. “Sorry if I feel a bit reminiscent, but I miss your father.”

I looked to the saddened elder and wiped the tear away,“There’s no need to feel sorry, we all miss our family from time to time, and ever since Senior closed the portal...” I myself began to feel saddened as well, but I pushed the thoughts aside and embraced the old smithy in a hug.

He returned the hug and whispered “Thank you, young one. Remember this, I love you.” With that, I heard a door swing open and Terra and Axton calling out for me. I released Firefist and turned to face the two approaching.

“Dark! We’ve been looking for you for ages.” Axton stated angrily,“After that shadow swept you away, you disappeared into the darkness of the hall!”

Terra stepped closer to the forge and eyed the still burning flames,“I haven’t seen this in years, and I’m glad you’re safe.”

“Firefist told me that Senior did have a reason behind leaving the guild, the old master betrayed him somehow, right grand...” I turned but could find no trace of the old man. Terra looked to me with a troubled expression.

“Dark, are you alright? Did you say that you spoke with Firefist? The old Forgemaster?”

I looked to Terra and nodded,“Yeah, he was here a minute ago and..” I was cut off my the large dragon as he spoke up.

“No one was in here when we came in but you. How could you have spoken with Firefist?” Terra asked.

“He was just here, maybe you two frightened him off.” I said plainly.

“Dark, that’s not possible, you couldn’t have spoken with him...” he trailed off.

“Why isn’t it possible? It literally just happened.”

“It couldn’t have happened!” Terra yelled. “I was the one who carried him out of the fortress during the war. He died in my arms, he lost too much blood protecting me from the gryphons.”

“What?” I gave the room a quick look over, and I found that the ground had been covered in dust and wherever I stepped, a foot print was formed. Firefist walked beside the forge numerous times and I found no footprints. I began to realize that.. My grandfather was a ghost. That was why he was still in the ruin, why he stayed as long as he did. “My grandfather was a..”

Axton jumped in quickly,“A ghost? That’s just... well I guess this counts as proof, not much but still.”

“Did you say grandfather?” Terra asked.

“Yeah, why?”

“I didn’t know that Firefist had children, and Senior never spoke about his father much.”

“Maybe.. Maybe Senior didn’t know, I didn’t know anything about my father until he showed up on my porch one night. This is nice to know, it runs in the family.”

“You don’t know that, that probably why Firefist made Senior a one of a kind armor set. To protect his son.” Terra stated.

“Actually, that is the reason..” Axton called out. We turned to look at the stallion and saw that he was flipping through another small journal of some kind. “It says here that Firefist had a child with a mare known as ‘Moonlight’s Grace’. He was forbidden by the guild master from having children, but the damage had already been done. Moonlight was pregnant, and after the child was born, the child was named John Dixon, Dark's father. When he was old enough to join the guild, John flew through training and mastered his art. He still didn’t know that Firefist was his father, and when John became the highest rank in the guild, he was given an unique armor set. Forged by none other than Firefist himself. It was crafted to signify his rank, but mostly to protect John.”

The stallion continued flipping through the journal but only scratched the surface. “There’s more too it, but you’ll have to read that on your own. I don’t feel right reading someone else’s personal journal.” He tossed the small book over to me and I placed it in my pack alongside of the guildmaster’s journal. I turned to the dragon and watched as he continuously eyed the forge.

“I only wish Firefist taught me more. With his knowledge, I could build the proper armor we need for the future guild.” and like a signal from the old smithy, I felt a cold breeze blow towards the chest. I approached it and began taking my gear out.

“One sawn-off, check.” I placed it in my waist holster. “One sword, check.” I strapped the sheathe with the blade inside around my waist. “and my food pack, check.” I strapped on the last of my gear and noticed something at the bottom of the chest. A small book. I reached in and pulled it out, I found sketches of armor sets and descriptions on how to fold the armor properly, the heat required, everything. I looked to Terra and called out to him,“Terra, catch.”

He looked to me as I tossed the book at him. As it lightly hit his chest, he grabbed it just before it fell to the ground. He began to flip through the pages and his eyes grew larger as did his smile. “This is it! Everything Firefist knew about working the forge!” He buried himself in the book but was quickly interrupted by Axton.

“It’s nice to know that we’re all safe and got some nice things from here, but I’d like to leave now. I’ll take the books and scrolls to the library in Ponyville and study up on how the old guardians worked. Terra will go study up on Firefist’s lessons and as for you Dark, that’s entirely up to you.” We all looked to each other and nodded.

I already knew what I was going to do, I was going to go see Chrysalis and Moon. It’s been so long since I last seen them. And it was finally time to visit, and hopefully stay till I’m called upon.

As the two exited the room, I stopped at the exit. I turned and gave the forge one last look,“Grandfather, if you can hear me... Thank you. For everything.” I balled my hand and placed it over my chest. I gave a bow and as I looked up, I seen the ghostly image of him copying me. I gave a smile, and he smiled right back.

“Life is too short to fight all the time, sometimes you need to make peace.” and with that, his image vanished into thin air.

“Peace and unity are constant in this land, but should anything happen, i’ll return it.” I turned to exit and a smile kept its presence as it embedded itself on across my face.

I promised myself that day, I would always be there for my children, adopted or not.

Family is important, to me and to Dark. I promised you people that someone would die, but what happens if the person I would have originally killed already been dead? Zombies? HA! Don't make me laugh.

So if any of you guys are interested, and want to talk to me about the story and would rather chat than message, Here's a link to a small group. Tis' for chatting or for questions you all have so far. I'll answer them to the best of my ability and will see you in the next chapter.
Firefist's Theme Song.

Oh yeah, feel free to read an alternate universe version of this. My story Writer's Block is sure to ease the time between Chapters. So have fun.

Keep it cool, Condemned.