Iron
Iron Hammer was in no way a particularly smart pony or a particularly dumb pony. He was not blessed with any unusual powers and did not possess the ability of flight or of magic being but a humble Earth pony. He had a plain brown coat and a plain dark mane and his eyes to add to the blandness of his colour too were brown and rather dull.
He was however strong, stronger than most ponies anyway but then again there were stronger still then him but then again there were weaker than him. He was not a pony of too many words but neither was he one to stay silent if the need arose for him to talk.
He was not an artist at least not when it came to canvas but he was a pony of a specific art important to the goers by of many small towns alike Ponyville which was of course why he found himself with a cart laden full of tools and supplies trundling slowly up the beaten trail from Canterlot. At least it was one of the reasons.
He sighed and felt the dew on the very top of his mane from the light dousing of rain. He didn't mind it as it was hot and he knew that it was only the Pegasi doing their jobs which was all anypony could really do in this world. So he trundled on and listened to the annoying click which was caused by a loose nail on the wheel of the cart which in a way he was thankful for as it kept his rhythm trudge in check.
Other ponies on the road might have felt very miserable being so alone. Others might have whistled a tune or at least kept a smile to try to ease away the loneliness. But alas no not Iron Hammer he was content to trudge… up the road all alone to a town he had never heard of and that might not even have work for him.
Although he was not without some optimism for he had been told that Ponyville was a friendly and tight town that would surely welcome his talents or at least find some place for him. So as he noticed the buildings of what he could only describe as being "Cute" he doubled his pace eager to find a little shelter from the rain.
He set the cart down on the outskirts of town, confident that nopony would attempt to steal or mess with what was under the tarpaulin and strode into town alone. His large stature looking from window to window for a sign of a store or any place that might serve to inform him about the town.
He did not find any. It seemed that the centre of town where the town hall was place was closed early which surprised Iron Hammer as it was only three 'clock in the afternoon. However looking round at the seemingly ghost town he did see that there was a rather large oak tree which he could at least take shelter under until he could get his bearings or ask somepony for some information.
So he quickly trotted past a few of the very colourfully decorated buildings and through a few alleyways until he reached the big beast of a tree. He stared at it with a neutral expression and began to feel the wood. It looked quite solid enough on the outside but upon knocking it with his hoof he found it to give a sound that made no sense.
Instead of a dull "Thunk" it gave a hollowed "Thunk" which should not be expected of a tree as mighty and healthy as this. That was of course when he caught sight of the first window and taking a step back realised that this was somepony's home.
"Hmm" he said to himself examining the house. He knew that normally hollowing out a tree was not good for the tree… in fact usually it died so he supposed that the fact it was still here was something to do with either supports, magic or a bit of both.
Magic was a funny thing he didn't like to cross with but he accepted it and realised that for many ponies in his practice it made their lives very much simpler. He walked around the tree to the front where he discovered the very pretty door to what was actually the town library.
He smiled and without a knock on the door went in and shook his mane. However he stopped upon realising that it was probably impolite to get all the books wet and general impolite to get anything not belonging to you wet. He was amazed by the number of books across the walls. The shelves were carved into the tree quite simply but with a nice rustic touch.
It was not decorated to look like a library and didn't have a counter or anything in fact he even spotted a kitchen behind a door and realised that this might also be somepony's home he was in. Of course country life must have been different from cities like Canterlot or Manehatten.
He was not a frequent visitor to the Libraries of both towns' but had done repairs on them once or twice and recalled them to be massive with hundreds of ponies going in and out every minute with books of every shape, size and colour. He was no reader and didn't need to read anyway what with all the information he needed being up in his head where it was best kept.
However right now he did need some information although somewhat more local and for that he would need the Librarian. That was the thing with no bell or way to alert the Librarian and thinking it rude to shout In the home of another he decided to instead just wait until somepony came along who knew what they were doing.
He didn't mind he liked waiting as it gave him time to daydream mostly about knew designs that he liked coming up for ordinary objects. It wasn't that he was a designer but he enjoyed the challenges he set within his own mind and worked out the problems of doing the hypothetical tasks he set himself.
Of course as usual when he got into such things he never got out of them and without knowing it hours could pass where he would lean against something and stare straight ahead and nopony could disturb him. Of course he had to blink at some point though and after what seemed a minute he blinked and realised that nopony had appeared yet.
He stopped thinking about jet-powered kettles and looked outside the window which to his surprise was dark black with faint lights in the distance illuminating the tops of nearby buildings. He checked around the room and located a clock on the mantelpiece that stated that the time was almost nine o'clock at night.
He staggered away from the wall he was leaning on in surprise for how long it had been and suddenly felt his knees buckle. Of course leaning against a wall without shifting for six hours was going to make anypony a little weak and numb but he had not been expecting it and fell right back against the bookshelves embedded into the wall, hitting his head in the process.
His vision blurred slightly and he felt as a pile of books toppled onto his head causing stars to dance in front of his head. Of course after ten seconds of regaining his senses he realised that he had made a big mistake and doing what any normal pony would do he cursed and tried to fix it before somepony came and scolded his clumsiness.
However as he bent down and picked a book up firmly with his teeth he heard a rather chirpy and somewhat too eagerly helpful voice behind ask "Can I help you"?
Of course having not spoken to anypony for about two days since leaving Canterlot it was a bit of a surprise and he flinched and spun round quickly. However all thoughts of fear, or possible repercussions and jet powered kettles turned away from his mind as he laid eyes upon the mare before him.
Not a boring mare anypony could clearly see. She was young like he but maybe a bit younger and a Unicorn with a vibrant Purple coat and a mane of many colours the primary being an interesting dark blue with two streaks of pink and purple in the middle of it. Her eyes like the other interesting colours on her were Violet and the stature she held herself in was although not quite confidence was still helpfulness that her smile radiated and her tone when she repeated "May I help you"?
Iron Hammer shook his head slightly to clear his thoughts and finally spoke up. "No" he answered quite untruthfully but having no better though coming to mind for the time being.
Of course this stunted the helpful mare and she frowned and replied "Oh… funny I just though you mind need some help because well you seem a little confused and don't be afraid I am the Librarian". "She has some very good points this one" thought Iron Hammer to himself as he spoke up a little clearer "Sorry Miss I just uh came in and knocked into your books by accident I was actually looking for some information if you could please assist me"?
The Mare vanquished all traces of confusion and changed into an even more helpful voice asking "Well whatever it is you need I can provide. We have books from Music to DIY to Pony Anatomy to Fantasy just any book you need and I'll find it"!
Iron Hammer was positive she was about twenty-seconds from breaking into song and so decided to interject before she went on explaining how books were endless and all the magical things you could discover from them. "Actually I'm new to town and looking to set up shop on the outskirts of Ponyville and want to know if this town has got a Blacksmith"?
The mare looked a little deflated but kept the helpful look and explained "Well you see I'm new here too so I don't really know but by the looks of things yes Ponyville needs a Blacksmith with the amount things regularly breaking that I've seen so far".
Iron Hammer nodded not quite understanding how anything other than maybe a common tool could break around here. "Ok well that's good to know. By the way my name is Iron Hammer" he decided to introduce himself so as not to be seen as rude.
The Librarian smiled and replied with her own name. "My name is Princess Twilight Sparkle and I am the Librarian here and very pleased to meet you Iron Hammer". She smiled at Iron Hammer and he tried smiling back and although he was not a grumpy pony it looked a bit more like barred teeth than an "I'm happy to see you" look.
"Tell me Iron Hammer. Your name Iron Hammer and the fact your Cutie Mark is a large hammer wouldn't happen to make you skilled in crafts as well as Blacksmithing?" asked Twilight with an inquisitive look on her face. Iron Hammer smiled and replied "I dabble in building things and repairing things other than a broken shovel or the odd coat hanger. Why do you ask Miss Sparkle"?
Twilight blushed a little and replied "Please just call me Twilight but it's just that the top balcony of the library seems to be rotten through and unsafe to go up on so I was wondering after you get set up if you'd want the job of fixing it"? Iron Hammer nodded to himself and thought how lucky it was that the first pony he talks to offers him a job and he doesn't even have a shop set up yet.
"Well it's really a job for a builder but I would like the work, it's been a while since I worked on something other than a small tool or something so yes Miss Twilight I will take your job as soon as I set up shop and get organised. Twilight seemed to fill with happiness and replied "There is no rush at all Mr Iron Hammer but I thank you for such dedicated words".
Iron Hammer smiled and nodded, picking up the last book on the floor and slotting it back into place on the bookshelf above him. "Yeah well as my Grandfather's drinking friend Al used to say if a job is promised then either do it or run away and never look back…" Iron Hammer very coolly remarked and with hindsight reminded himself to never talk about Al again.
Twilight didn't seem fazed by it though and instead offered "Would you like to stay and have some tea Iron Hammer?" a warm smile trying to entice him to say yes. However Iron Hammer knew he had long outstayed his initial welcome and so bid Twilight farewell much to her seeming disappointment.
"But do you at least have a place to stay?" she asked and once more without thinking Iron Hammer nodded and replied "I will be fine Miss Twilight but I promised in a few days I will swing by once more and help fix your roof". Twilight nodded in gratitude and replied "Well once more thank you for your words, I'm sure you'll do a great job".
Iron Hammer smiled slightly "I plan to" he commented with a small wave as the door to the library shut with a small wave from Twilight on the other side. Iron Hammer stepped out into the now thunderous and almost pitch black rain and realised he had absolutely nowhere to stay the night.
"I really must stop lying to ponies" he remarked heading back to where he believed he'd parked his cart to spend another night sleeping underneath it in the cold. However he knew that he didn't want to put Twilight out I mean there were tons of other ponies in this town and it wasn't that he was set out to doing it but if he were to put somepony out it would be one that deserved it.
He thought of no such matters at present however as he searched the darkness for his cart.