The hissing of nearby water snapped Spear Point back into reality, finding his wings tightly gripping one of his newest creations; a spear. Well, it was more of a spear tip, but he was soon going to attach it to a metal pole. In his mind, the wooden handle of the spears of the day were brittle, easily shattered, and a metal pole would allow it to last longer, at the cost of added weight.

He gazed at the blueprint he posted on the wall behind him. The making of the metal pole would be easy, but he needed it to be perfect. This was his first time making such a fine weapon without anypony foalsitting him, and this was already one of his best works. He already knew how he wanted to design it, and he knew where he would put it up.

Hoofsteps nearing him made Spear Point quickly turn his head to find a neighbor of his, Golden Aura, or as he liked to call her, (and much to her chagrin), Goldie. With a soft sigh, he placed the spearhead onto the closest table, turned his head to face her, and sat down. "Golden Aura, what brings you here?" he greeted with a smile.

The mare shrugged her shoulders slightly, her long mane of brown and red, (that she purposefully dyed), moving slightly in the soft breeze. "Depends, why haven't you called me 'Goldie' yet? Has something happened?" she asked, moving up to Spear Point to give him a quick hug.

He gladly returned the gesture. "No, nothing wrong," he started, "just tired, that's all." He pulled away slowly, wishing that he could've held her a bit longer. His white coat seemed to glisten a tiny bit against the sun. "What time is it anyway?" he asked, standing up to stretch a hind leg.

She pulled away too, gazing at the skies behind her. "I'm surprised you haven't noticed, it's just about noon," she answered. "Are you too shut-up indoors and too busy working that you don't have the time to check outside this roof of yours?" She gave a light punch to his chest.

He shook his head, his body rumbling a bit as he chuckled softly, lifting a hoof to meet with hers. "Well… I suppose I can take a break for an hour or two, though I'm sure Rough Rock will certainly yell at me for it."

"Who cares what he says? He's just about as shut-up as you are; it'd do you both some good if you went out more than once a week for groceries!" she exclaimed. "It'd also be nice if we hung out places that aren't your room." Her voice seemed to be barely a whisper as she continued to talk. "I miss younger you, you were outgoing and more caring, now you're just… this."

He sighed, obviously a tiny bit irked at what he had heard. "I know, and I'm sorry. I'm just too busy with what I'm doing here, I promise, I'll bring you somewhere nice soon," he said with a faint smile.

They smiled as they enjoyed this peaceful moment between each other, their faces being pulled closer and closer together, resulting in a quick show of affection between the two before the slamming of a door interrupted them.

"Good morning, Rough Rock," Spear Point greeted with a snort, turning to face the newly woken earth pony who wore a clear scowl on his face.

The grey stallion huffed in reply. "You're supposed to be working on that spear, don't waste your time with the unicorn."

Golden Aura only let out a huff of irritation at his comment.

"Need I remind you who actually gives you the materials you work with," Spear Point replied, his face soon adopting a small smile. "How was your rest? Up and running at one hundred and one percent?"

"I'm always running at one hundred and one percent you dolt," Rough Rock replied, trotting up to the two. He easily towered over Golden Aura and almost seemed to be taller and even more sturdy than Spear Point. This fact made Spear Point a tiny bit scared of his partner and employer.

The key words being a tiny bit.

After a few seconds of Spear Point and Rough Rock staring each other down, they both snorted- a sign of both of them accepting the fact that they're still in good wills- and Spear Point stood up. "I'm off to the waterfall, might find something hidden in the bank of the river next to it."

Golden Aura nodded, standing up shortly after. "I have to finish up my work at home as well," she stated, turning to the white stallion with a sharp glare. "And you better not get back here by midnight! Last time that happened you ended up sleeping until sunset the following day," she warned Spear Point, who simply nodded.

Rough Rock snorted. "I'll go with him, make sure he doesn't get himself or one of the animals killed."

Spear Point had already decided that maybe this trip to the waterfall would take longer than expected, seeing how long it took him to do anything with Rough Rock around. "Let's go then. I'll meet you later, Goldie," he said, turning to start his walk.

Rough Rock nodded his head in goodbye and began to follow his partner.

"Have you heard the stories floating around recently?" Rough Rock asked Spear Point, keeping up a pace right beside him.

This made the stallion stop and turn his head to Rough Rock. "Stories? I'm surprised if you got them and I didn't, what's going on?" he inquired, searching the eyes of the gray stallion for any sort of trick or emotion other than sincerity.

"Those dragons that live down south- you know the ones: giant, big, nearly wiped out that other village two hours away? Those ones; apparently something's happening with the Kingdom and the Dragons. Some speculate war, while others speculate an impending attack or maybe even the extermination and destruction of the Kingdom." Rough Rock continued to walk, keeping a straight face.

Spear Point tilted his head. "Well- yes, but what does that have to do with anything, maybe they're merely just stories- things not to take seriously?" The stallion received a slight punch to his leg.

"They are not just stories you bonehead," his employer growled. "I'm sure you've seen the smoke that reaches above the treeline right? No furnace or campfire can produce that much smoke. It was way too thick for it to just be both of those two things."

Another snort from Spear Point. "Maybe just a wildfire, honestly Rough Rock, you seem to believe anything that threatens our safety. The dragons haven't shown themselves in years." He was about to continue but was stopped by a hoof jabbing into his sides. He gazed up to meet his employers' eyes, filled with a fire that even he feared.

"Listen here you brainless spine, I've been around here longer than you have. I've seen my fair share of wildfires, and that smoke is not a wildfire. It would be more spread out and less thick, that is pure black smoke encased in a small area. There's only one reason, dragons."

Spear Point could only swallow and release a weak breath as he tore his sight away from Rough Rocks eyes. "How do you even know all of this?" he asked quietly, his voice having a slight trace of nervousness and fear.

"You think I do not know ponies? I have contacts in the other towns and one in the city, we have letters come in every month you idiot," he snorted.

"Well yes, but I always thought those were confirmations of our- nevermind, just… does that mean we need to get to work?" Spear Point asked with a sigh, already looking tired.

"Of course: armor, weapons, replacements, shields, the whole lot. As much as I wish for you and Golden Aura to stay a thing, you need to tell her that we need to prepare. If this war doesn't happen, you can go back to your daily activities, but if it does happen, you need to distance yourself from her. Do you understand?"

Spear Point nodded.

"Good, now hurry up. We need to get to the waterfall before the sun starts to set," Rough Rock ordered, breaking into a gallop.

AN: MLP does not belong to me, only the characters involved in this chapter are owned by me.