Assembly - Chapter 1
Chapter 1
The sun rose over Canterville in a burst of speed, as if in a hurry to bring the small town its rays before the residents began tapping their hooves in impatience. Not that they ever did. Nestled as the town was against the backside of Canter Mountain opposite Canterlot, they were used to the sun’s late but sudden appearance each morning. The northeastern face of the Canter sheltered them from the early dawn, and it was a natural part of life for the sun to be late. Many of the town’s occupants silently agreed that the lack of a sunrise and the sudden late-morning appearance of the sun was an acceptable trade off for the wonderful sunsets they could see as it set behind Cloudsdale to the west.
But not everypony shared the same opinion towards the late sunrise. As the first of the sun’s rays began to slide across Canterville one pony was just returning home, his sides soaked in sweat from his morning run. He'd risen before dawn, just as he had every morning since he’d first moved there, taking his morning run around the bit of mountain that separated the town—and his small home on the upward boundaries—from the rising light. He'd arrived at the peak shortly before the dawn, taking a brief rest to watch the first moments of sunrise. Then, sticking to that same routine, he had raced the sun back down the mountain, sprinting in a mad dash to beat the warm rays as they rose up towards his home.
This morning the race had been especially close. Dozens of trails wound across the back of the mountain, endlessly crisscrossing one another in serpentine patterns. He always chose the path back at random to keep the challenge fresh, never running the same route twice in one week. This morning he’d managed an early lead until he’d been slowed by a dry creek-bed, the rounded stones and rough terrain forcing him to move carefully lest he twist a fetlock on the smooth, unsteady surfaces.
The olive-green pony slowed to a brisk walk as he neared the wood-and-stone fence surrounding his simple cabin. His labored breathing slowed, but he smiled as he listened to the pulse pounding through his ears. Even moving into his older years, he could still outrun or out-muscle ponies half his age with ease.
His wide chest rose and fell with each breath as he stepped towards the water barrel he kept by the gate, his lungs burning with exertion. Almost, he thought, watching as the sun crept up the road that lead to his home. Another minute or two and I wouldn’t have made it in time. Which would have been alright. Sometimes he lost. It just gave him a goal for the next morning.
He shook his head, stepping up to the barrel and without hesitation plunging his head into it, relishing the feeling of the cold water as it cut through the heat of his sweaty, greyed mane. He flipped his head back, sighing in relief as the cold water rushed out of the closely-cropped manecut and down across his back and chest, little streams of ice sizzling against the tremendous heat of his sides. He dunked his head under once more, splashing more water onto his back with one hoof. As he pulled his head up the second time he took a deep breath of air, dropping to all four hooves and blinking the cool water from his eyes. Time to get the rest of my morning underway, he thought, pushing the gate open and trotting towards his home.
As he trotted down the stone-paved walkway, he ran his eyes over the small rows of vegetables he'd planted in his front yard. The cabbages were doing well despite the summer heat, but his green beans were beginning to look slightly wilted, and he could see that despite constant watering his peas were beginning to look wretched. The tomatoes weren't faring much better either; many of them were still green and not nearly as large as he’d hoped.
He let out a sigh, pausing on the walkway. He had never enjoyed his sister's skill with plants, although he wasn’t about to let that stop him from trying. Still, it looked as if he was going to either have to purchase groceries or perhaps see who in Canterville with a gardening-related cutie mark would be willing to offer him advice. His own cutie mark—two steel triangular kite shields slightly overlapping one another—didn’t really have much to do with gardening. But it was something to occupy himself with now that he was retired.
Which I wanted to do, he reminded himself. More time for himself. More time to visit his sister and her family. Time to help his niece and nephew earn their cutie marks. He blew a breath through closed lips.
Yes, it was the best choice, he reminded himself. You won’t live forever, and you spent twenty-seven years protecting those who needed it. A service he had been highly skilled at, and consequently, highly paid for. But it got old after a while, didn’t it? he thought, tapping one of the tomato plants with his hoof, grimacing slightly as the brittle stem cracked under his hooves. A little empty. You wanted something new. He looked up at his cabin, admiring the sun-baked wood.
“Steel! Hey, Steel Song!” His head snapped back as a mare’s voice began calling his name, and he turned to look for the source.
“Oh, hey!” he called back, looking down the road and spotting the source of his name. Running up the path towards his home was Rapid Cap, the emerald earth pony mare in charge of Canterville's mail delivery. As well as the mail-manager, sorter, and handler of any and all mail that came through the town's small postal center. The first few times Steel had met her, he’d called her by her full name, but after a few weeks he’d learned to just shorten it to what everypony else called the energetic young mare: Cappy.
“Hey there, Steel!” Cappy said, sliding to a stop by the gate with a grin. “You just get back from your run?”
He nodded. “Yep, Celestia almost beat me this morning, but I’ve still got a few surprises left in me.”
She laughed as she flipped open her saddlebags. “One of these days I’ve got to come running with you on a weekend. I’m not named Rapid for nothing, you know!” She plucked a few envelopes out of her bag with her teeth and carefully passed them to Steel. He flipped through the envelopes, eyes searching for anything that stood out.
“Anything good?” Cappy asked, innocently batting her golden eyes at him.
“Looks like it,” Steel said. “I’ve got one from my sister and her husband, and the other two are from her kids.” He took a closer look at the colorful envelopes. “Looks like this one is almost indecipherable and is written in bright blue, so that would be Jammer … and that would make the one that looks like it’s on pink stationary from Sparkle.”
“Aww, how cute!” Cappy said, leaning over the gate for a look. “How old are they?”
“Not that old,” Steel said, flipping the letters around so that Cappy could see for herself the absolutely awful blue penmanship Jammer had decorated his envelope with. “Jammer’s six, and Sparkle is five. They’re a hoof-full, believe me. I don’t know how my sister and her husband manage those two. Thick as thieves when they aren’t fighting.” He let out a little chuckle.
“Any cutie marks yet?” Cappy asked.
He shook his head. “Nope, not yet, but it shouldn’t take long. Sparkle clearly has her mother’s voice, and Jammer, well, it’ll probably be related to jamming something. Somehow.”
Cappy let out another laugh, a melodic sound that reminded him of dozens of small glass bells, all ringing in harmony. “Maybe not,” she said, nodding at her own flank where an oar sat over a raging white wave. “Everypony thought that I was going to get my cutie mark in running. My Dad even built a trophy rack for all of the running trophies they thought I was going to win, but I got my cutie mark whitewater rafting!” She shook her head. “Shocked them!”
“What did they do with the trophy shelf?” Steel asked.
Cappy snorted and rolled her eyes, sticking out her tongue. “Filled it with running trophies of course! Just because I’d gotten my cutie mark in rafting didn’t mean I was going to stop running.” She gave another light, melodic laugh and then looked at him. “Speaking of which, you’ve lived here for almost three years and while I’ve heard what your cutie mark stands for, I’ve never actually heard how you got it.” Her teeth gleamed as she fixed him with a wide grin.
A breeze kicked up, ruffling the short strands of Steel’s mane and causing Cappy’s bright blue mane to ripple in unison. “Well, I guess I could tell you,” he said. “It’s a bit of a story though, so you’d have to stick around for a bit. I can’t shortchange the telling of how I got my cutie mark.”
Cappy’s face fell a little. “No, I can’t right now, sorry. I’ve got a schedule to keep.” Her face brightened again. “You know, work and all that. Nothing stops this mare from getting what she wants! Another time maybe, and then I’ll tell you how I got mine,” she said, giving her saddlebags a little twitch for emphasis.
“Alright, yeth, an’ther ‘ime,” Steel said as he took his letters in his mouth.
“Oh, and Steel?” Cappy said as he started to turn.
“Yeth?”
“You might want to talk to Summer about some help with your peas. She’s really good at gardening, and … well … they look like they need all the help they can get. I might be able to help, but that’s really her kinda thing.” She shook her head, smiling.
“Oh, I almost forgot!” She flipped her saddlebags open and pulled out a small card. “You have a package today.” Steel stuck a hoof over the gate and she dropped the card onto it. He thought for a second he saw a faint look of disappointment on her face when he took it, but he pushed the thought out of his head as she pulled her own up with a smile.
"A package?" he asked, staring down at the card. It had his name on it, in clear block print, but there wasn't a return address written anywhere. "I wasn't expecting anything."
“Yeah, well, it was a little heavy for me to carry it all the way up here, so I left it at the office,” she said, adjusting the straps on her now nearly empty saddlebags. “You’ll have to come pick it up later.” She gave a dramatic whip of her sky blue mane, rearing up on her hind legs. “Anyway, gotta run! Toodles!” Then she was off, thundering down the path, a cloud of dust chasing her retreating tail.
Steel shook his head as she rounded the first of the many corners that led down the mountain towards Canterville. Cappy, always the talkative optimist. It was a shame she was so much younger than him, she really had a way with words. And that laugh … He shook his head again.
“Focus there, soldier,” he said, pushing the door to his home open. “She’s easily half your age. Easily. Keep your mind on the present.” He shut the door, his thoughts already on the trip down to Canterville that he would need to make later that day.
* * *
Canterville wasn’t a very large town. Most ponies who were looking for the hustle and bustle of someplace with more inhabitants stayed on the other side of the mountain in Canterlot, where high society hobnobbed and the parties never stopped. But for a pony like Steel, who had wanted a nice quiet retirement somewhere within a few hours travel of his sister's family, Canterville was perfect.
He trotted down the main thoroughfare, saddlebags on his back. Houses lined the street on either side, colorful in shade but still tasteful in design, much like many of the rural homes he had seen in his travels around Equestria. Many of them were expanded, with separate doors for whatever place of business their owners happened to run, saving the expense of owning a second building.
“Hey, Steel, how’s it going?” a dull grey stallion called from under an awning, waving his hoof.
“Alright so far, Cid. How about you?” Steel called back, slowing. “You still in trouble with Ms. Chalk?” The grey pony grimaced.
“Unfortunately yes,” he said, shooting a glance at the small one-room schoolhouse down the street, where Clear Chalk served as the town's only schoolteacher. “As unfair as it is. All I did was offer to guest lecture those kids on engineering. You think she’d be grateful.”
Steel laughed. “I don’t think it was the engineering guest lecture that did it, Cid,” he said, coming to a full stop next to the tinkerer's small shop, “I think it was what they did with the knowledge you gave them.”
Cid sputtered, an affronted look on his face. “It’s not my fault! All I did was give them the assignment to build the catapult and launch something with it!” He pointed one hoof down the street. “Why isn’t Wake Berry on her list? She’s the one who sold them all those watermelons they launched at Chalk’s house in the first place.” He sat back, crossing his hooves and rolling his eyes. “If you ask me, it’s totally unfair.”
“Of course it is, Cid,” Steel said with a laugh, clapping the stallion on his shoulder. “But that’s how mares like to work sometimes. Besides, didn’t Ms. Chalk already tell you that you could make it up for her?”
“I believe her exact words were that I’d be absolved when she could ‘break a watermelon or two over my thick skull,’” Cid said, glumly. “Why are all the pretty mares the ones who are the most insane?”
“Hey, if that’s your worry, there are a lot of other pretty, sane mares in town,” Steel said, giving his head a tilt to one side. “Quite a few actually.”
“Yeah, sure,” Cid said, rolling his eyes and giving him a sarcastic look. “Rub it in, Steel, rub it in.” Steel blinked, unsure of how to react. What made him a target?
“Well,” he said, changing the subject after a few moments of silence. “Any big projects going on?”
Cid shook his head. “Not since I fixed the water pump for Rosy Glow. I heard the mayor’s talking about a water tower though, so that would give me something to do.”
“Alright well, I need to get going. Got an errand to run at the post office.” Steel shifted his saddlebags as Cid snickered. “What?” he asked, perplexed. “They were itching.”
Cid shook his head, eyes staring at the sky. “Yeah, yeah, just keep shoving it out there. Go have fun at the post office.” Steel raised one eyebrow but began trotting off, feeling that he’d missed some part of the conversation.
He rolled his eyes as he turned off of the dusty main street and toward a small shop. A brightly painted sign hung proudly by the door, proclaiming “Summer Green’s Shoots!” in large bright blue letters with slightly smaller but no less vividly colored text below that read “Flowers, Veggies and Grains! If you want it, we can grow it!” The text sat next to a faded image of Summer’s cutie mark: a trio of green shoots coming out of the ground. In the few years Steel had lived there, he couldn’t recall ever hearing of her challenge being put to the test. Then again, it was possible she had already proven it so well that no one ever would.
“Hey, Steel!” Summer said, drawing out the first part of her greeting as she saw him. As usual the blue-coated unicorn was wandering from aisle to aisle in her small shop, checking to make sure that each piece of her stock for the day was staying fresh and appetizing. “Looking for some help with that garden of yours?” She gave her graying mane a quick toss as it slid down in front of her face, throwing it back over her shoulders. “Because if so you've come to the right place.” Her horn began to glow a faint lime green, a small green hose on the back wall of the shop unwinding itself and floating over to her waiting hoof.
“Let me guess,” Steel said. “Cappy stopped by and let you know about the sad state of my garden?”
“Well, she didn’t use those words exactly.” Summer said, twisting the nozzle with her magic and guiding a small, misty spray of water run over the shelves of fresh-cut greenery. “In fact she didn’t tell me at all what the garden looked like. She just said you might want some pointers, that’s all.”
“Oh.” Steel said, feeling a vague twinge of awkwardness. “Well, yes. I could use a guiding hoof with my garden, that much is true. But,” he followed Summer as she walked to the next aisle over to give another row of vegetables a cool misting, “I wish she’d just let me ask you instead of asking for me.”
Summer rolled her eyes. “Relax, Steel, she’s just looking out for you a like a good friend. Besides, you’re the one who ate your own hoof on that one, since I offered you help in the first place, remember?” She looked at him with an amused smile on her face. “Cappy was just being nice.”
“You’re right. Sorry,” he said, nodding his head at her, only for her to react by bursting out in laughter.
“Steel, take it easy,” she said, pausing her laughter for a brief moment with her scolding before laughing again. “Honestly, there’s nothing wrong with you jumping to a conclusion. Cappy can be a little enthusiastic, although I think her heart is in the right place.”
“Well, regardless,” Steel said. “I would appreciate a few tips if you would be willing to offer them. Also,” he said, opening his saddlebags and pulling a few bits out, “I could use some more of those mint leaves you have.”
Summer nodded. “Can do.” The bits floated off of Steel’s hoof and were replaced a moment later with a small bundle of mint, which he gently dropped into his saddlebags. “And I can stop by this afternoon to give you a few pointers,” she said, lifting the hose and returning to her misting. “Who knows, I might even bring Cappy along. It couldn’t hurt to give her a few pointers as well.” She smiled. “Would that work for you?”
Steel nodded. “That sounds fine. I’ll let you know if anything comes up before then, but...” He shrugged, giving his head a tilt to one side. “I doubt anything will.”
“Excellent! Well, I’ll see you then!”
“Likewise,” Steel said, exiting the shop and turning to his right. He passed a few more buildings until he came to the reason for his visit to the town proper. A bell jingled above the door to the Equestrian Postal Service Center as he pushed it open, a jaunty ringing that seemed well fit to the only occupant. The Center’s small room was empty, typical for Canterville, and the only features other than a few private mailing boxes built into the wall were an outgoing mail slot and a receiving counter built into the back wall where Cappy sat reading a book.
“Hi there, what can I do for—Steel!” Cappy exclaimed, her eyes lighting up as she saw him. “Well, well, well, at long last you come to visit me instead of the other way around. Took you long enough.” She leaned over the counter with a sarcastic look on her face. “What’s a girl gotta do to get some attention around here?”
Steel rolled his eyes, but carefully kept his face neutral, as if he hadn’t gotten the joke. “Well of course you visit me all the time Cappy, you’re the mailmare, it’s your job.” He watched as she dropped her face into a heavily exaggerated look of disappointment and groaned. “Relax Cappy,” he said, laughing. “I get it, I get it.”
At the sound of his laugh her ears twitched, and she sprung back up to her previous position, head resting on one hoof, a bemused look on her face. “Was that an actual laugh? A laugh? From Steel Song?” She put one hoof to her forehead and pushed her head back. “I feel faint, I thought this day would never arrive!” Her exaggerated motions only forced another chuckle out of him.
“Well,” she said, placing both hooves on the counter, her expression one of mock seriousness. “Down to business, I suppose. You looking for that package that came in?”
Steel smiled, nodding. “Yes, I am.” He flipped his saddlebag open and plucked the package slip she’d handed him earlier out with his teeth, dropping it beside her open book. Cappy looked at it for a second, checking the numbers, and then darted off to one side, vanishing from his view into the back of the postal center. A few seconds later she was back, a large rectangular parcel balanced on her back. She took a corner of it in her teeth and flipped it onto the counter, where it landed with a loud bang.
“Whew!” she said, wiping imaginary sweat away from her brow. “That’s why I didn’t bring it out for delivery. What’d you order, Steel? Textbooks?”
“I’m not really sure,” Steel said, prodding it with one hoof and running his eyes over it. "Like I said earlier, I'm not expecting anything." The package had been wrapped with thick paper, carefully folded over and taped on the bottom side, which happened to be facing up after Cappy’s toss. Twine had been wrapped around it as well, as if whoever had sent it hadn’t been sure the tape and thick brown parcel paper was enough to make sure it would arrive in one piece. He prodded at the knot with his hoof, but it was solid, without even a loop to pull loose. “I haven't any orders recently, and my sister’s letter didn’t say anything about a package.”
He grasped the package between his two front hooves and flipped it over on the counter, the heavy item making another loud bang as it hit. The top yielded no more clues than the bottom had. His name, address and a postage value stared up him, but the rest of the surface was a blank brown, with no sign of any return address.
“Huh,” Steel said, his brow furrowing as he looked down at the plain paper covering. “Any ideas?”
Cappy tilted her head from one side to the other, checking the package from all angles. Then she looked up at him, her face lighting up with a grin. “Yep!” She ducked beneath the counter, the sounds of drawers sliding open and closed reached Steel’s ears. “'e open ‘er up!” she said, popping back up above the counter, a letter opener in her teeth, light glinting from the metal. She stuck the thin blade under the twine, snapping it with a quick toss of her head.
“I—” Steel’s protest died in his mouth. After all, it was just a package, it couldn’t hurt to let Cappy see what was inside could it? Besides, she looked perfectly happy to be helping him, and it wasn’t like there was much else she could do all day. He bit down on the now loosened string and pulled, bracing his hoof against the mysterious parcel's brown paper wrapping. The twine came off easily, unraveling as the cut ends frayed. He dropped it onto the counter and looked at Cappy expectantly.
“Well?” she said. “It’s your package. Aren’t you going to finish unwrapping it?”
“You don’t want to do it?”
She tossed her head back, sending her sky-blue mane cascading around her like spraying water. “It’s not my package, Steel! Besides,” she said, blinking her eyes at him again, “don’t you want to see what it is first?”
“Well, yes—“
“Then open it!” she said, shoving it across the counter and resting her head on her hooves, staring at him with wide, expectant eyes.
Had it been this hot when he’d walked in? Steel ran one hoof through his mane, scratching the back of his ear. His mind had to be playing tricks on him. Besides, she was half his age. Still, he had nothing to lose or gain by opening the package here ... He flipped it over again and peeled the folds up, but unfolding the paper revealed nothing but the bottom of a heavy duty cardboard box.
“Somepony really wanted this package to make it in one piece,” he said, Cappy nodding in agreement as he folded the wrapping paper down on all sides. At least her eyes were fixed on the package now and not him. “Well,” he said, bracing his hooves against the sides of the box, taking care to make sure that they were positioned so that the lid wouldn’t fly off of the package when he flipped it. “Whoever sent it should be glad to know that it made it here fi—“ he stopped speaking as he turned it over, exposing to the room the large seal emblazoned on its surface.
“Is that?” Cappy asked, her eyes wide, her voice quieter than normal.
It took Steel a moment to find his voice. “Yes. Yes it is.” There, sealing the top of the box was the symbol of one of the Royal Sisters. A single black cloud, dark as the night save for a single shining white crescent cutting across it.
The personal seal of Princess Luna herself.
* * *
Steel didn’t even bother to close the gate behind himself as he ran up the pathway to his home. As soon as he'd been able to get away from an incredibly curious Cappy, he had run the entire way from Canterville, the package with Luna’s seal stowed securely in his saddlebags where nopony could see it. He’d begged forgiveness of Cappy, asking her to tell no one about the package for now.
“Oh come on!” Cappy said, giving him a begging look as he frantically shoved the package into his saddlebags. “Why not?”
“Why not? Cappy, it’s the seal of Princess Luna! I’ve never met the Princess, and I don’t know why she’s sending me mail.” Steel finished closing his saddlebags and found that she had leaned so far over the counter that they were nearly nose to nose. He pulled back, startled. “Look,” he said after a moment. “This package came with no return address. So I’m thinking it’s supposed to be a bit of a secret. That, and I don’t want anypony starting rumors about me or why I’m getting mail from the Princess. I don’t even know what it is!”
“So open it!”
“And if it’s really important? Eyes only?” Cappy shifted her lips to one side, thinking, and for a moment Steel was reminded exactly how close she was to him.
“Alright,” she said after a moment, giving him a look of disappointment. “I won’t tell anyone what it is. But promise me something?”
“I—” Her eyes swelled up, large and voluminous, and Steel found himself agreeing. “Ok.”
“Whatever’s in there, let me know if it’s a really big deal, all right?” she asked, staring right into his eyes with her own golden orbs. “You promise?”
“I—I promise, Cappy.”
Steel dropped his saddlebags to the floor and sat down on the couch, hearing the heavy thump as the strange package hit. He stared down at the dull-green bags for a moment. Alright, now I just need to open it. For some reason however, he couldn’t seem to pull himself from his seat. By chance, his eyes wandered up the wall, settling on a framed picture of himself and an old friend of his from the Griffon Empire.
“I wonder what you’re up to now, Primetail?” he asked. “You old featherbrain.” He smirked and looked down at the saddlebags again. “And if you were here you’d tell me to get off my sorry weak excuse of a flank, wouldn’t you?” He tapped his side feeling the thick muscle bounce his hoof back. “And then I’d have to kick your tailed behind again.” Steel grinned. “Still, even so, you’d have a point.”
The heavy cloth of his saddlebags folded back easily, cloth so old that all stiffness had long since fled. The black cloud on the box's seal soaked up the sunlight streaming through the cabin windows, drinking it with an endless thirst that made its dark, midnight coloration all the more stark against the white shining crescent cutting across its center.
Steel prodded at the wax with his hoof, feeling its unnatural hardness. Some sort of magic was undoubtedly involved, given the almost unreal shine and the resistance the wax was displaying to the summer heat. He readied himself, straightening his shoulders and putting on his most impassive face. Then, with infinite care, he reached out with one hoof and pried the two flaps of the package open.
The seal parted with a loud snap and he jumped back, scrambling to his hooves as an image of Luna’s seal appeared in the air over the now-open box. “Hear well citizen!” a loud voice boomed. Steel’s ears folded flat against his head at the volume. “The contents of this package are to be delivered to the earth pony known as Steel Song and seen by him alone!” There was physical force behind the voice, he could feel his mane rippling back as the sound rebounded through the room. “Any other pony who claims these contents would bring our royal wrath upon them! Consider thyself duly warned!” There was a crack of thunder and the Princess’s cutie mark disappeared, leaving Steel popping his ears to get the ringing out.
“Ow.” So that was Princess Luna’s voice? He gave his head a shake and pressed his mane back into its normal position. I heard she was a bit more … dramatic than Princess Celestia, but that sounded more like an academy drill sergeant than one of the royal family. Satisfied that his hearing was back at normal levels, he moved back towards the center of the room to see what was so important. If the Princess of the Night was sealing the package with a magical warning, it had to be something high priority, but he still wasn’t sure why she had sent him something in the first place.
He prodded at the box with a hoof, head down and ears back in case of any lingering magical warnings or alarms, but the contents seemed benign. He flipped the lid open and pulled his hoof back, just in case. Nothing. He waited a few moments more and then stepped forward, looking down at the contents for the first time.
On top was a letter, again marked with Luna’s seal as a letterhead and addressed to him in a flowing, stylistic script that—unless he missed his guess—was the Princess’s own. He picked it up in one hoof, setting it aside and digging through the papers below it. File folders. Dozens of them if not more, each with a name on the tab. He flipped past a few of them, and then began pulling them from the box in earnest. His hoof scraped bare cardboard, and he looked at the stack of folders in amazement. There was nothing else. Just the letter and the files. He flipped the topmost one open.
Just as he had suspected from the name on the side, it was a personnel file. A detailed record of the pony's life and work history. There were photos, work records, known skills, personal details ... He flipped through the pages, skimming over the contents. The file was at least thirty or forty pages long, detailing almost everything anypony could want to know about the pony in question. It even had a series of interviews with close associates near the back.
Steel flipped the folder closed, his brow furrowed. He knew what files like these were for, he’d handled plenty of them back before he had retired. But he’d never seen one with this level of detail before. Errant thoughts came to mind, but he brushed them away. Better check the letter before I go jumping to conclusions. He spread the crisp paper on the floor before him, folding away the creases.
Steel Song, the letter began. My sister has spoken highly of you, as have many of your former associates and employers. In the last few months many events have come to my attention—some small, but some large, such as the Changeling invasion. In the wake of such events, my sister and I, as ruling Diarchs of Equestria, have determined that the Guard as it currently stands is unfortunately inadequate to the multitude of tasks that our nation currently requires them to perform.
As such, my sister and I are working to expand the current goals, operations, and training of the Guard through several projects. One of these projects is something that neither I nor my sister have ever attempted before, but that your associates have informed me you have considerable experience with. Given that experience, my sister and I request that you meet with us at the earliest possible convenience to discuss it.
Please present yourself by name at any of the Canterlot Castle entrances within the next few days in order to schedule an appointment with us. While I do not wish to discuss the specifics of this project in this missive, I would ask that you please study the included files, as they are pertinent to the project. If you accrue any costs of transportation, lodging—Steel skipped down a few lines. He could walk to Canterlot, and his sister's home was always open to him.
For now, I ask that you keep news of our request fairly private. I look forward to meeting you in person to further discuss this, and apologize for our brusqueness.
Princess Luna, Regent of the Night.
Steel stared down at the letter for a moment, his jaw slack. They want me to do what? His eyes ran over the letter again, rereading it to take in every detail. It was somewhat vague, but he had read job offers that were even moreso. Granted, most of those he ditched without a second thought, the vague requests never came from anypony he wanted to work with. Princess Luna, on the other hoof ... Well, a vague request there could hardly be marked against her. She’s a Princess of Equestria. If she wants to be vague, that’s her call.
Steel set the letter down. “I suppose it can’t hurt,” he said, rubbing his chin with one hoof. “Nothing in here says that they want me for anything more than advice.” In fact, that’s probably all they want me for. Advice. These files ... they probably want me to advise them on the ponies involved for some sort of specific mission. One they can’t tell anypony about. That would certainly explain the secrecy.
“Well,” he said, standing and looking down at the files. “Looks like I have a little reading to do. Princess, I may not know what you’re looking for, but—” his eyes darted over to a set of battered armor sitting above his couch, dents and scars scraped across its chest, “—whatever it is, I’ll be talking to you about it soon.”
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MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
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Thanks! Glad you're enjoying it so far!
I wish I had the motivation to update twice a week
How do you keep the motivation to write twice a week? I just can't do it 
Well anyways I read the first two chapters, so far you have my attention and I will continue on
Good characterization for Steel from the get go. Military discipline, yet willing to expand his boarders, albiet not a successfully. Social to his small community, and friendly with the mailmare, who I'm hoping to see more of. Royal Canterlot Voice is always welcome, and seeing him going prepared shows his skills as a leader for the group. Sorry my comment's aren't in depth yet, but not too much to comment on so far.
Just a minor error I noticed with the comma on this line:
Even with that I am enjoying this story immensely.
Luna: master of self-defeating prophecy.
how the hay do these not have more comments?
ive only read the first chapter and im hooked already. 
i really like the characters, seeing as u delved into their personalities enough to bring them to life. this early in, thats pretty rare.
7.5/10
overall, so far
Amazing! I
the fact that Steel has calm but cool character traits. 
CappySteel OTP :3
Oh I'm going to enjoy this saga. The writing is of very high quality.
Bugged me because it was so similar to Canterlot
But then you did this
And I was like, oh that's actually kinda cute, I like that.
led
stationery
Never, and I do mean never, have I liked a story purposefully before completing it. This is my one exception, I do imagine it will be well earned.
... That Honestly sounds like What the Name of Cozy Glow's Mother could be..
Oooo man I'm excited for this! I love the interactions between the characters!
Thought those had something to do with horses...
'The shield was developed for mounted cavalry, and its dimensions correlate to the approximate space between a horse's neck and its rider's thigh'
...and they indeed did.