Good to be back [Dated] [Open]

Nov 16th
Noon

Steel looked at his shop. It was left untouched surprisingly enough. He looked around for any damage, and saw none. "Seems....alright." he said to Megs. He had his load on his back, of Mega's stuff. He opened the shop, and smelled the smell of the coal in his furnace. It was almost dead, and needed to be restocked quickly to rekindle it's warming fire. He looked behind the counter, and saw his whitlings intact. He had been wanting to whittle ever since Megs incident but blocks of wood were rare in the undercity.

He brought the items into the spare room, and set them down gently. Celestia knows what's in them... he thought. He passed by Megs in the small hallway, and pecked her on the cheek. He continued down the hallway, and down the stairs. He quickly trotted over, and stocked more coal into it. He quickly fanned the flames, via a hoof pump below. The furnace soon lit up and the din roar of the heat was soon heard again. The fumes were let out the top of the furnace, into a pipe leading to the outside. He smiled. He was back in his element, one which he'd worked on his entire life. He still believed in the rebellion, but here, in his smith? He felt he could relax again. He was back home. Back where he belonged. He went out the front, and stood behind the counter. He hoped some of his regulars hadn't forgotten him.

Mega wore a large smile on her muzzle as the time to move into her new home had come. She liked the safety that living under ground in her old workshop had provided, but something about living in the smith seemed to make her heart flutter. Her usual pair of saddlebags were on her sides, along with one larger bag on her back. They really had cleaned out her old place.

The pegasus mare stopped in her spot as she felt the muzzle of Steel meet her cheek, her gray coat causing the red blush that came to her cheeks to turn a magenta color. She slowly made her way up the stairs afterwords, moving into the spare room that would double as her new workshop and her bedroom. Placing her bags down on the floor, she opened them up to begin unpacking. It would be hard to find a place for everything.

Steel looked under the counter. A few slabs of wood, and whittled statues, laid their, untouched. He grabbed up a block, and began chipping it off, bit by bit. He sat in a chair, higher above the counter, leaning back. He heard Mega's unpacking upstairs. She sure does have alot of stuff. he thought back to picking up the bags. A hefty amount to be sure.

Mega's familiar tune legs her as she worked on unpacking her things, all of her tools organized on the desk inside near the window. She would need to get a real work bench in here somehow, but that should be good enough for now. She quickly opened up her second bag to unpack, a small box containing a helping of black powder came out first and was placed on the desk, a second following soon after, an undetected crack in the box causing a spill of the powder on the floor Mega failed to notice.

The unpacking continued on, everything getting put where it would fit. As Mega lifted out a set of wrenches, one large monkey wrench fell out of place and to the floor with a clunk. A small percussion sound could be heard as the shock set the black powder on the floor off, slightly clocking the mare with the soot that blackened the spot on the floor.

Steel heard the sound. Oh Celestia.. he thought for all but two seconds before rushing upstairs. It sounded like a small explosion, and it was enough to freak Steel out. He charged the door open.

"What's wrong?!" he asked slightly panicked. He looked around the room, and saw where it went off, and how Megs face looked comically burnt. He also saw that she was alright. "Seems somepony needs to take better care of her explosives~" he said, after he assumed Mega was fine.

Mega giggled lightly as Steel came up to greet her, using a hoof to brush the soot out of her fur. "I gueth I thpilled thome of my black powder on the floor without notithing." She replied, not seeming at all bothered by the teasing from Steel. "But, I will be more careful. Don't want to get hurt again."

Steel chuckled. "Please do." he said with a nod, then returned downstairs. He was sure Megs could handle herself. After all everypony made mistakes. He returned to whittling, unsure what he was making. Maybe a unicorn. Maybe another race. He was totally consumed with his own thoughts. Thoughts of the rebellion, thoughts of Megs, thoughts of customers.

Almost 10 days he had been gone, and he finally could relax. This day was going to be a productive day. He could almost feel it in his bones, and he was feeling pretty confident himself.

It has been now 4 days since Jack joined the rebellion and got attacked by a griffon and in the aftermath he noticed that he lost lots of his fighting capabilities compared to his time in the army. Jack slightly chuckles "Even the hard work on a farm can't replace a good old military training." To have a slight chance against griffon attacks he needs a new knife, since he lost his old one."Hmmm...when did I even lost that knife?" Jack scratches his head."I really can't remember it."
Jack trots past the smithery and notices the smoke coming out of the chimney. "Huh, it seems I have luck today and maybe can order a new knife." he thinks as he enters the smithery. He sees Steel Strike behind the counter and walks torwards him. "Howdy, Mr. Strike. Nice to see you again." Jack says with a polite smile.

Steel looked up and saw the gray pegasi. He was one of the new rebels, as he recalled. He'd smithed a few items for him before, but nothing much. "Heya Gray. What can I do for ya?" he said, putting away the wooden block for now.

"Well, I need a new knife and since you're the only smith I trust I thought you can help me." Jack gets a bit closer to Steel and lowers his voice "I know you would get trouble, if you would smith weapons, so lets say I need it as a tool for my farm." He gets back to a normal postion and says with a grin. "Which wouldn't even be a lie." Jack grabs under his wing and places his shaft on the counter. Even if he hasn't a knife for it, Jack still wears it,because he feels kinda nacked without it. "The blade should be that long." he says and points at the shaft."It doesn't need to be something fancy, since it's a working knife. Could you do that for me?"

Steel nodded. He could do something like that in an hour or two. "Should be do-able." he said, heading towards the back. He grabbed up a piece of steel, a small block to be percise, and thrust it into the firey depths of the furnace. He went back to the counter. "Might be a bit, but it can be done in an hour or so." he said, silently content.

"You can have a seat, or if you're off needing to do something, I can have it done by tomorrow." he said, calmly. It wouldn't be too much trouble.

Jack thinks for a short moment and then nods. "I'm done with everything I planned for today, so I'll stay here. And if it doesn't cost more than 20 bits I can even pay you today." He says and trots to the bench and takes a seat. Jack puts his saddlebag in front of him and pulls out an old and dusty book . It is olive green and the lable is already bleached out. Jack had to search for it in the whole Undermarket and payed a nice amount for it, since books with fighting techniques are very very rare. Jack opens it and begins to read, he has really to catch up again with the theory of fighting.

Tayari strode purposefully, down a set of streets he'd traveled several times before, a small smile on his face. 'I still find it great to have a smith working not far from my shop.' This had been after a few days of his dream of rebellion being realised, and in this time he'd thought of some things he would now need, among them a solid storage container, and some extra vials.
Approaching and entering the building, he approaches the counter. On seeing Steel, a flood of thoughts goes through his head. 'Huh. Something feels weird about him now... on the edge of my mind, it feels like there's something I'm just forget- He's the rebel leader. He's my new boss!... How did I not make that connection earlier?'
Outwardly, the zebra attempts to present a normal, calm appearance, greeting Steel with a friendly, "Hello, Mr. Strike. If you're not too busy, I've got a couple of things I'd like to order."

Steel was about to sit down, when Tayari strolled in. Another old face... he thought. He'd made a few things for Tayari in his years in town. Mostly technical glass for some vials. Sometimes a special request or two, but nothing overly big. "Heya Tay, what can I do for ya?" he asked with a smile. Almost like business as usual. he thought to himself.

"Well, first of all, I might order a few vials while I'm here, maybe about 10? But, more to the point, I'd like to request, I guess what I'm thinking of is a metallic chest, with a lock and matching key, about... Hang on, I've got the dimensions written down..."
Tayari searched in his belt for a piece of paper, handing it to the smith. "Is that alright? And, uh, how much would that cost?"

Steel looked at the plans. They called for a basic metallic chest. It was a request he rarely got. However it was doable. The lock and key mechanisim would be trick. He wasn't one for making devices. Though he had a good idea of who could.

As Tay as his question, he pondered it for a bit. For the locking mechanism alone he'd normally charge 50 bits and for a chest this size, 100 bits. However Tay was a loyal custome, and now a valuable Rebel. "I'd say abou 80 bits for the chest. And 2 bits per vial as usual." He said, nonchalantly.

Tayari nodded. 'Total 100 bits? Awfully generous of him.' Reaching to his side, Tayari took into his hoof two pouches of full of bits.
"Total of 100 bits, right? If you'd like, I can pay in advance; should be enough bits in here, if I counted right," he comments.

Steel nodded to Tay. "Whatever's best for you Tay." He said, smiling. This would be a bit of a challenge. "Ill probably have your ordered filled in a few days. And get it to you as soon as I can." He could probably fill it with a few days work. And he'd see about the lock with Megs.

Tayari dropped the money pouches onto the counter. "Well then, I'll leave you to it. I'll be back in... say, a week's time? Oh, and let me know if there weren't enough bits there."
With a nod and a statement of, "Thank you, and goodbye, Steel," the zebra made his way to the exit.

Steel nodded to Tay. "You have a good day Tay." He said with a quick nod. He took the pouches upstairs and put them in his secret stash. The he loosened the floorboard and threw the pouch in with the rest of the pouches. He did have quite a bit stored up. He wondered how much it'd take to repair his ceiling and wall. Damn that griffon. He thought quickly. Almost all of this is his fault. My marefriend, my situation... However looking back on it, the griffon had saved his life. He couldnt make head or tales of Zweihander, or Mikael, or whoever the hay he was.

He shook his head and trotted downstairs. He could dwell on it later, when work was done. He walked next to the counter and all the way to the end of it, into the doorway leading to the back room. His furnace had sufficientlly heated up the steel into a malleable substance. He began hammering away, flattening the rod. He made the knife have a single edge. He was sure he'd need it for more than cutting rope. It was a good 45 minutes before he was satisfied with the blade. He dipped it into a barrel of water, strengthening the steel.

He pulled it out slowly, and began to rub off the grime that accumulated from the quick cooling. As he rubbed off the grime and the shine began to show through. He searched around for a suitable handle, and attached it to the bottom of the knife, via some industrial strength glue. He waited a few minutes for the handle to harden. When he was satisfied, he glanced around, making sure no one was around or watching. He made a few slashes with the knife, aggressive and quick. He chuckled, recalling his few battles where he experienced combat. He left those battles in not so good shape.

He trotted back out to the front counter. He placed the knife on the counter. "There ya are Gray. One quality knife. Just bring it to me if it breaks, and I can fix it up. Though you shouldn't worry about that. It's good quality." He said with a wink.

Jack raises his head as Steel enters the room again. "Well then, lets see." he says, puts his book into his saddlebag and gets a leather bag full of bits out of it. He trots over to the counter, puts the bag on it and grabs the knife. Jack rotates it and looks at it from different angles. He nods. "A good balancing." He says and grazes it over his coat. Jack grins as he sees how easily it cuts his fur. "A very nice knife, Mr. Strike. How much will it cost?"

Steel looked to Gray. "Your 20 bits should cover it." He said, indifferent. 5 bits didn't matter in the long run. He knew he'd he able to make ends meet, for a while anyways.

Jack pushes the bag over to Steel "Very well then." He slides the knife into the shaft and hides it under his wing again. He grabs his saddlebag and turns to Steel again. Jack slightly lowers his voice. "Oh yeah, before I forget, I think I found a solution for our lack of fighting skill problem. You saw the book I read? I had to search the whole Undermarket for it, but finally found it. It's the book we got during our training in the army and I think with it I could start to train other ponies. Of course I can't train the whole rebellion, so I would train the trainers, who train other ponies later. So we could provide a basic combat training for other ponies. How does that sound?"

Steel nodded. It seemed like a good plan "Fair enough. Be careful, though. The streets have ears..." He said looking out to the street. Ironically enough, no ponies were out on the street. "We can discuss it later..." He said, not wanting to take any chances.

Jack nods with a grin. "I can take care of me pretty well and I mostly notice it, if someone watches me." He moves to the door and waves with his hoof. "Goodbye, Mr. Strike and have a nice day." Jack disappears into the chilly November day.

Steel sat again in his chair. He began whittling the block of wood again. His thoughts soon turned to Rays project. Megs would certainly need to help, with the locking mechanism. Otherwise he'd be making a lockless chest. His thoughts swirled in his head till they fell upon Zweihander. The strange griffon would need to be thought over a long time.

String timidly enters the smith, a hood over his head, a cloak down his hull, a guitar on his back, his usual appearance, his whole body shaded with darkness, but the aura he gives out quite the opposite, he thinks much different as he dresses.

he looks around and lets out a soft "Hello?" before he takes his hood off.

Steel looks to the pony, a bit skeptical by appearances. However, he still nods and says a friendly greeting. "Hey there stranger. What can I do for ya?" He asks, slightly curious.

String chuckles "You don't remember me?" he then sighs "Usual occurrence." he then shakes his head, trying to get depression out of his head, then stops, looking at Steel "I came here to ask for one more of your strings, and well..." looks around cautiously, then whispers "How good are you with sharp steel?"

Steel took a closer look at the pony. "Ah, sorry String. Didn't notice you with the cloak and demeanor." He says with a chuckle. He nodded at the first request, but froze as he mentioned the 2nd request. He looked carefully to String. "What did you have in mind?" He asked, not making it quite clear whether he would make it.

String's face suddenly loses all expression, he then gives Steel a serious look "Something to cut throats of the oppressors." He pulls out his own dagger, but only slightly, then quickly sheaths it back.

He starts trotting around the shop nervously "Long have I awaited for a day to spill their blood. To get revenge." he then stops dead in place, and looks through Steel 'And what better day, than today, while I am depressed." he then smirks "It doesn't have to be long, make a gladius, it'll be enough."

Steel looks to String. He definitely seemed off. And he hoped the latest bit of bad news wouldn't have any lasting effects. "Sorry String. I gotta keep a low profile. And I can't be making weapons for anypony. I gotta be careful. Check the Undermarket. Might get lucky." His tone was quick, hoping to resolve the issue, and continue his smithy activities.

String sighs and then sits on his haunches, looking down sadly "But... nobody has to know..." he looks up at Steel. "It's just a shortsword..." he puts his hood back on "Well.... how about that job then...? Is there anything you might want to give me? I'd gladly help! Even for free!"

Steel put a hoof behind his head. He really didn't need an assistant now. His orders were always manageable. He tried to think of something that String could possibly do that didn't involve his smith. Suddenly it came to him. "Ah yes, there is something you can do for me String. You see, some things have come up and I can't go out on collection runs for my scrap. If you can bring me scrap metal, I'll pay you based on how much you get me." He said with a smile. It was a relatively simple job. One he needed done, since this new project came up.

String nods "Sure just... i don't need to be paid." He smiles and stands up trotting up to Steel, he lets out a hoof and nods "I'll do it."

Steel smiled. "Thank you String. It's greatly appreciated." He said with a nod in hid direction. He took the hoof and shook it firmly.

String let's his hoof down and nods"Need anything else? And um... what is the latest word in town?"

"Well....." Said Steel contemplating telling String the situation below ground. He decided if the musician wished to help out. "If you want to help out in something....Rebellious....I'd head to the Undermarket. And ask for a unicorn named Double Edge. He can give you what you want. If you want to that it is..." He says in a low whisper, making it clear that it wasn't to be discussed elsewhere.

String's eyes suddenly shine "What?!" He grins "Epic! Listen. Invite, EVERY REBEL! To my performance in 3 days time. Performance. Okay?" He smirks "Inspiration shall be given~" he then lean over and hugs Steel, then pulls back a bit blushing "Sorry."

He then stops in place, and starts thinking logically... >One of them must be...< "Uhm... Sorry, but, mind if I ask if there is a mare that goes by the name Mercy Heart... in the rebellion?"

Steel is a bit shocked by the sudden show of affection, by String. He awkwardly hugs back before he pulls away. "I'll see what I can do. No promises though. We got a lot on our plate..." He says, referring to his first question. The second question was easy enough.

"Im not sure if she signed up, but she just spent the last week or two fixing Megs. If you ask Dubs I'm sure he'll be glad to show you where her clinic is." Said Steel with a smile.

His eyes widen 'She's alive?!" he falls back onto his haunches, looking at his hooves "I've never felt happier in my whole life..." he just sits there, blocked, not moving for a few moments, his whole mind blowing up into a million pieces.

He rubs his eyes and chuckles slightly "That's fantastic."

Steel chuckles lightly. "Better get to the Undermarket before curfew then if you want a chance at meeting her tonight." He says with a wink, and begins whittling again.

String bows down towards Steel "Thank you... I now owe you a great deal." he then stops, tilting his head "Wait, who is Megs?"

Steel chuckles nervously. "Ah, my marefriend. And probably one of the cutest darn mares I ever saw!" He shouts loudly and mostly towards the stairs. He chuckles again. "She just moved in today."

String smiles "Nice to see people getting together in such a harsh time.... Gonna need to write a song about that." he then puts on a serious face looking at the ground, calculating, he then quickly looks up to Steel "I can write a song for her if you want." he then grins "You could sing it to her.

Steel chuckles at the offer. "I wouldn't want to impose or anything..." He says, a bit nervous. "But if it isn't too much trouble, it'd also be extremely appreciated." He said with a smile. A song about him and Megs would be awesome.

String then nods "Okay then. Tell me everything about her, what you feel, how she is, both physically and mentally, spiritually, how much she means to you. Then a bit about yourself."

"She's a gray Pegasus. With this amazing purple hair with sky blue streaks. She has the gorgeous amber eyes, the light up every once in a while. She can act a bit foolish at times, but she's always adorable. She means everything to me...she's my princess...she's my inventive engineer. I can't imagine going on without her. Deep down, I know that her and I...are soulmates." He said, saying how he felt about the mare who had enthralled him a few weeks prior. He went on to talk about himself.

"Grew up on a farm. Came from a family of tradesponies. Wasn't all too shocking, when we learned that I was a smith. Soon after I completed my internship, the war broke out. I stayed off the front lines mostly. I just made the weapons and armour, along with some fixing up. After the war ended I laid low for a bit. A few months later I setup shop here. And been here ever since. And I wouldn't have it any other way." He finished. He really had been through a lot with this smith. When the time came he knew he'd have to abandon it. However, he needed to enjoy as much time above ground as possible.

Mega hummed a tune while working on her latest invention, quickly getting used to her new workshop. An ear twitched as she soon heard some voices coming from below her in the main smithy. She slowly stood up from her seat as curiosity got the better of her, slipping out into the hall and peeking down the stairs just in time to hear what Steel had to say about her.

"Oh Theelie..." She said quietly as a few tears began to well up in the corners of her eyes. Not letting a moment go to waste, she quickly rushed down the stairs and gave her coltfriend a tight hug. "You're tho thweet!"

Steel chuckled as his marefriend ran down the stairs, and hugged him. He smiled and hugged her back. "I meant every word Megs.". He said, kissing her on the forehead. She still made his heart beat, even after the few weeks they had been together. She held her close, almost forgetting String was there.