Training - Chapter 9
Chapter 9
The Equestrian Geological group—or whatever they were called, she wasn’t quite sure—was fairly easy to spot from the air. Sky Bolt tucked her wings in, putting herself into a steep dive down towards the collection of wagons and ponies at the base of Canter mountain. Her eyes began to water as wind rushed past her, the ground coming up at an alarming pace. She waited until the last second, so close now that she could make out the surprised expressions on the few ponies that saw her coming in, then snapped her wings out. She gave a small grunt of exertion as her wings caught air, pushing down and holding them steady as she went from a steep dive to a backwards loop, shedding her speed by the peak and making a perfect four point landing. The wet grass squelched under her hooves, still wet from the massive thunderstorm the night before.
Sky Bolt flashed a wide smile at the stunned ponies near her landing zone, but most of them gave her an annoyed look and then went back to moving boxes and checking equipment, muttering under their breath, probably about hotshot pegasi. She rolled her eyes and started craning her neck, searching for the pony she’d been told was in charge. They were probably just glum because of the cloudy weather. It was supposed to rain again tonight, an even bigger thunderstorm than the night before, and the weather crews had kept the clouds overhead in preparation.
After a moment's searching, she found the pony in charge of the whole circus over by the entrance to the cave, supervising what looked like the setting up of geological equipment. At least she looked like the one in charge, standing on a box and occasionally calling out orders to other groups of ponies around the area.
“Amethyst Star?” Sky Bolt called, walking up the to the fuchsia mare. “Sky—” she caught herself. “Specialist Sky Bolt, Dusk Guard.”
“Ah, nice to meet you!” Amethyst said, hopping down and giving Sky Bolt’s hoof a good shake. “You have no idea how glad I am that your team wanted to get their hooves on some of the crystal from this place.” Her eyes narrowed, focusing on something over Sky Bolt’s shoulder.
“Hey!” she called. “It goes the other way! Not that way the other way—yes! Turn it around! Good! Like that!” Her eyes refocused on Sky Bolt. “Sorry about that,” she said with an embarrassed grin. “Interns.” She rolled her eyes, shaking her head. “Anyway, so, is it just you?”
Sky Bolt nodded. “Yeah, just me. The captain thought about sending along some grunts, but we figured it’d be better if we left the removal of what we needed to your ponies, rather than ours.”
Amethyst pursed her lips. “I understand. It may not be the optimal solution, but better safe than sorry, the last thing we want to do is damage the growths.” Her face changed back into an excited grin that reminded Sky Bolt of a young pony on Hearth’s Warming Eve. “Do you realize that until that Changeling creature broke into the caverns, nopony had been down there in almost three-hundred years?” She was quivering with excitement. “And now we get to see it? It’s a geologist's dream!”
Sky Bolt nodded. “Kind of like getting a governor regulator valve working for the first time.” Amethyst gave her a blank look. “Never mind,” Sky Bolt said, laughing. “But it’s kind of a similar feeling.” She waved a hoof over towards the entrance to the caves. “So when are we opening this baby up?”
The entrance in question was massive, although it had the clear look of being a pony-made opening rather than a natural one. It had been natural at first, probably a small hole. But as the unicorns had moved in, the opening had grown out, widening until entire teams of ponies could have stood side by side and passed through it.
Or at least they could have if the entire thing hadn’t been walled off. Thick beams overlaid with boards covered the entire entryway, bearing warnings and messages of “Keep Out.” The only exception was a large hole near the center of the entrance where the wood had been blasted away, presumably by the element-bearer a few weeks earlier when she’d escaped. A thin sheet of plastic had been draped over it.
“Oh we won’t be opening it, per se,” Amethyst said. “The hole that was made a few weeks ago should be more than enough.” Her face took on a worried expression. “I hope the Element of Magic didn’t do too much damage while she was in there.”
“Could she have?” Sky Bolt asked.
Amethyst looked shocked at the question. “Of course she could have! Don’t you understand how valuable these crystals are? How they work?”
Sky Bolt gave her wings a flap. “Of course I know how they work,” she said. “But that doesn’t mean I know what the big deal is about the cavern.”
“Oh,” Amethyst said, looking slightly embarrassed by her outburst. “Sorry, I work with geologists all day and—”
“Don’t worry about it,” Sky Bolt said, waving her hoof nonchalantly as she hovered just off the ground. “Now I’m curious though, why would it damage anything aside from just breaking the crystals apart?”
“Well—” Amethyst’s pupils shrank, eyes going wide and ears standing up. “Moon!” she shouted, spinning around and pointing directly at a nearby earth pony. The pony had a pale white coat, a puffy light grey mane, and a playfully embarrassed look on her face. “Moon Pie, get out of the lunch snacks! For the last time!” Pouting, the earth pony pulled her hoof from the cooler it had been in. “I don’t care if those snacks were made by a cousin in Ponyville, you eat them with the rest of us. Get back to your team.”
“Sorry about that,” Amethyst said, turning back to Sky Bolt as Moon Pie wandered off. “That girl's whole family is pretty great when it comes to rocks, but every so often one of them is just a little ...”
“Odd?”
“No, more like exuberant,” Amethyst said. “I think to make up for the generally calm nature of the rest of the clan. Anyway,” her eyes darted towards the cooler one last time, as if she was checking to make certain that Moon had followed her orders. “You understand that these crystals have unique magical properties, correct?”
“Yeah, I got that,” Sky Bolt said. “That’s why I need them.”
“Yes, well,” Amethyst continued, “when the crystals form, that in and of itself is a natural magic. The difference with the crystals here, as compared to crystals found or grown elsewhere, is that they are intensely magical. Which is what gives them their unique properties when fully matured. However, any magical interference with the crystals while they are growing can alter or even damage the crystal, hence why the caverns are closed off while they regrow. Only when a crystal is fully matured can it safely be interacted with via magic.”
“So the unicorns on your team ...” Sky Bolt said, rubbing a hoof against her jaw in thought.
“Will be required to use a horn lock while we investigate the caverns, yes,” Amethyst said. “Additionally, the machinery we will be using will need to be magic-free, at least until we can identify areas in which magic can safely be used. Or,” she said with a sigh, “where magic has already caused irreparable damage.”
“Well, what about pegasus magic? Should I be flying in there?” Sky Bolt asked, letting herself drop to the ground.
Amethyst frowned. “I don’t know. I’ll ask Spiral or one of the other unicorns about that, they might know how much magic ‘bleed’ you have. In any case, I need to get back to directing this rodeo, I’ll let you know when we’re going to head inside.”
“Alright,” Sky Bolt watched as Amethyst turned, started to trot off, and then broke into a gallop, calling frantically to another pony to stop pulling out something that wasn’t needed and put it back. Sky Bolt took a quick look around and, spotting a nearby carriage with an unoccupied roof, winged her way over to it.
She sat down on the roof, pulling a pair of expensive—but well worth it—headphones from her saddlebags. From the sound of things she’d need to leave the portable player outside, which was fine with her. For all its claims of “portability” it was incredibly heavy and large, but it was worth it to be able to carry a bit of music most of the time. Giving the play button a tap with her hoof, she settled down on the roof of the carriage, sketch pad in front of her, ideas for ways to make use of the crystal she was about to get running through her mind.
* * *
Hunter sighed as he looked down at the list again. At this point, he could recite from memory almost every single one of the items listed, save maybe the new ones he’d been given that morning. Worse, last night he’d actually dreamed about them. All those items, dancing and twisting, mocking him. And the Royal Guard still didn’t have a clue how they were being sidestepped. It seemed that every time there were Royal Guards present, either a robbery didn’t happen or they missed it. Patrols would come into a car to find it disturbed. If they waited in a car, no theft took place. They’d even gone as far as to search every bit of luggage and cargo that boarded the trains, checking to see if the criminal was hidden inside some of the cargo.
No luck. Whoever the thieves—because at this point even the Royal Guard were sure there had to be more than one—were, they were invisible. The solitary pony that had been injured still couldn’t remember what had happened, and in the meantime the railway was suffering under the plague of “mystery thefts.” Ponies were canceling vacations, trips, or just flat out refusing to ship baggage or luggage. If the downward spiral continued, or so the papers claimed, ERS could be facing major financial problems.
Hunter sighed again, running his eyes over the lists spread out on his desk. One talking Wonderbolt figure. Three bracelets: type number sixteen. A case of uncut crystal samples owned by—
He looked away from the paper, feeling a throbbing starting at the base of his skull that reminded him of the throbbing bass beats he could feel through the wall whenever Sky Bolt was in her workshop. What was the connection between all of these thefts? His eyes ran over the page again.
A case of uncut crystal samples. His mind jumped back to a few mornings earlier when Nova had surprised both himself and Steel with one of the stolen keys. According to Steel, Luna had locked the piece in a secure vault that required a very specific set of keys, which struck him as ironic. Keys for keys. He chuckled, then blanched. Maybe he was going starkers.
As he looked over the desk again, something caught his eye. It was that oddly taunting note that had come with the Royal Guard reports a few days earlier. He’d asked a few of the Guards about it since, but none of them had fessed up to writing it. Not that he would have done anything about it.
“The pattern isn’t crystal clear yet,” the note read. He picked it up and took another look at it, something itching in the back of his brain. The note wasn’t even signed. Instead there were just two purple slashing crescents forming a heart. Tacky, and a little weird. He’d wondered if it was somepony's cutie mark, but a quick check at the records office had only confirmed that nopony in either guard division had such a mark. So it was just a heart. A purple one.
His eyes ran over the message again. “The pattern isn’t crystal clear yet.” Something about the message was making his brain itch, like an idea that was almost there but not quite. He looked down at the lists in front of him. A case of uncut crystal samples. The key piece that Nova had recovered.
“Sun above ...” he said, sitting up straight. “It can’t be that simple!” He ran his eyes over the list, mentally putting a tick beside each item that matched up with his thoughts. More than half of them did. But the others? There was only one way to be sure. He shoved his chair back so quickly it almost tipped over, the restless boredom that had been plaguing him for the last few hours transformed into a frantic energy. He tossed his saddlebags over his back, almost running out the office door.
Steel was outside, practicing hoof-to-hoof combat techniques with Nova and Sabra under the overcast sky. Hunter frowned as he saw the state of the clouds overhead, he knew enough about weather work to know a dangerous sky when he saw it. And tonight was going to be a ripper of a rough one indeed. No wonder there had been the warnings in the paper that morning about staying inside. The grey clouds overhead already held promise of a storm that would be memorable.
“Hey Hunter,” Nova called through his teeth, lowering his practice sword. “You coming out to join us?”
“Maybe later,” Hunter said, spreading his wings and taking to the air. “I’ve got an errand to run.”
“What kind of errand?” Steel called out, dropping out of his own stance. He was, Hunter noticed, wearing metal gauntlets around his hooves. “What for?”
“I’m going toy shopping!” Hunter called down. “I’ll explain when I get back!” He spun away, pushing down with his wings and launching himself off towards the edge of the grounds at high speed.
It wasn’t high speed enough however, that he couldn’t hear Steels faint yell of “You’re going what?” He couldn’t help but grin, even as the first drop of water landed on his nose.
* * *
“Ah, there you are! I knew I saw somebody up here!” Sky Bolt dropped her pencil in surprise as the pale pony popped over the railing like her body was a spring, landing next to her on the roof of the coach with a thump. “Whoops! Looks like I startled you!” Moon Pie said with a giggle. “Sorry!”
“No, that’s alright,” Sky Bolt said, pulling her headphones from her ears and letting them fall around her neck. “What’s up?”
“Well the sky, first of all,” Moon Pie said, eyes rolling into her head as if deep in thought. “And you would be too, if you were flying.” She giggled again at her own joke. “But seriously, Amethyst asked me to come find you since we’re going into the caverns any minute now, and I think she said you wanted to be there for that!”
“Right on!” Sky Bolt said, grinning and shoving her sketchpad back into her saddlebags. The portable player followed a moment later, although much more carefully than her sketchpad.
“Oooh, is that one of those portable music thingys?” Moon Pie asked as she watched Sky Bolt wrap the headphone cable around itself. “Aren’t those like, crazy expensive?” The bouncy earth pony drew out the word crazy, lips contorting into unusual shapes.
“Yep,” Sky Bolt said, carefully placing the device back inside the padded pouch she’d put in her saddlebags for just that purpose. “Cost me a few months of bits, but it’s totally worth it! Music helps me think.” She looked around, getting her bearings again, and then hopped off of the coach, wings extended.
She glided down to the ground and looked back, only to see that Moon Pie was already bouncing on the ground next to her. Not standing, but literally bouncing, as if she was a young filly who’d been given far too much chocolate.
“Neato!” Moon Pie said, still bouncing. “What do you listen to?”
“Mainly new stuff,” Sky Bolt said, giving her wings a flap and floating just a few inches off of the ground. “Vinyl Scratch, Neon, Blue Beats, the jamming stuff.”
“Cool!” Moon Pie said, taking a quick look around. “Well, I’ve got to go get my gear, but you can meet Amethyst over by the cave entrance.”
“Alright,” Sky Bolt said. “Tha—” Her thanks trailed off as the pale pony vanished in a blur of movement. “Wow,” Sky Bolt said out loud as she began winging her way over towards the cave entrance. “She’s an odd one.”
A drop of rain fell on her muzzle, then another, the water running down her nose and past her lips in a thin, cold stream. She shot a glance at the sky. The clouds overhead had darkened, a menacing dirty grey that was edging towards black. Another drop landed on her hindquarters and she fought a shiver of revulsion. Hopefully they’d be over and done with this before the storm hit. She’d never liked rain.
“Ah, specialist, there you are,” Amethyst said. The fuschia earth pony was standing by the still-covered cave entrance, lanterns hanging on each side of her saddlebags. She was accompanied by several other earth ponies, each with similar saddlebags, and a few unicorns with what looked like horn locks. ‘We’re almost ready to go inside.”
“All right!” Sky Bolt gave her wings a quick stretch, but then paused, tucking them back in as her earlier question returned to mind. “Are my wings going to be ok in there with all that magic sensitivity?”
“You’ll be fine as long as you don’t try doing any weather magic,” one of the unicorns said, his voice crisp and clear. “Flying shouldn’t cause the growths any problems.”
Amethyst nodded in agreement. “Yes, you can fly as long as you don’t fly into a crystal growth by mistake.” She looked at Sky Bolt and then frowned. “Do you need a lantern for your saddlebags? The crystals themselves produce a small amount of natural light, but it won’t be much to see by.”
“Yeah, sure, if you’ve got one you can spare,” Sky Bolt said. “No magilights, right?”
“Not yet,” one of the earth ponies said, passing Sky Bolt an already lit lantern. “We don’t want to risk anything until we’ve taken some readings. The mare tapped the large device that Sky Bolt had seen them assembling earlier. “We’ll be pushing this in there and getting some readings.”
“Cool,” Sky Bolt said, giving her mane a toss. More raindrops were landing on her now. “So what are we waiting for?”
“For Granite to get back with the—oh, there he is. Granite!” Amethyst called, waving at a grey bespectacled unicorn who was coming out of one of the coaches, a roll of paper held in front of him. “Hurry it up, I want to get in there before this rain picks up!”
“Yes, yes, I know!” he called back before picking up his pace and galloping over to the group. “Of all the days to do this,” he said as he came to a stop by the machine, roll still held in his magic. “You had to pick the day when we’ve got the heaviest rains Canterlot's seen in ten years scheduled.”
“A chance to get into the crystal caverns doesn’t come once a year, or even every hundred years,” Amethyst said. “I’ve wanted to see the inside of this place ever since I was a little filly, and I’m not about to let some rain stop us, especially when our meal ticket—” she tilted her head in Sky Bolt’s direction, “—is in a hurry to see the inside. Besides, it’s underground. We’ll be nice and dry.”
“If you say so,” Granite said with a glum expression that said he wasn’t convinced. Amethyst rolled her eyes and trotted over to the unicorn, giving him a peck on the cheek. The unicorn rolled his eyes, but his lips did turn upward in a small smile. There was a large clunking sound as the roll of paper slid into it’s place on the back of the machine, and the hatch clicked shut over it.
“May as well get this over with,” Granite said, picking a horn lock up and slipping it over his horn. “I never liked these things.” he said, tapping it with one hoof. “They itch.”
“Alright, the analyzer is ready everypony!” Amethyst yelled, her face split by a massive grin. “Horn locks on, lanterns lit?” Her gaze darted from pony to pony. “Alright, let's do this!” Two ponies grabbed the sides of the plastic sheet and pulled the bottom corners up, lifting it so that the group could duck under it.
Amethyst was the first to go, followed by Granite, who was carefully pushing his machine. Sky Bolt could see paper scrolling by with needles giving readings. So it was probably some sort of detector or analyzer. Her prediction was confirmed when the machine passed the plastic sheet and the needles began jumping much more rapidly.
No one else seemed to be hurrying into the caverns, so Sky Bolt darted ahead of the rest of the group, ducking under the plastic and feeling a faint swell of victory as the light rain became nothing more than muted taps on the greyish plastic. She could already see Amethyst and Granite up ahead, examining the wall of the cave. At this point the walls were still mostly stone, but she could see faint glimmers of reflected lanternlight coming from further in.
She trotted deeper into the massive cavern as various ponies began to funnel in behind her, most of them heading for Amethyst and Granite and paying her little attention. She wasn’t surprised. She was just there to find the right amount and shape of crystals for the armor. Until she spotted some, there wasn’t much she could do.
Amethyst and Granite didn’t seem to be a in a hurry, so she flapped her wings and took herself up, stopping when she was about halfway towards the cavern ceiling. Now that she could get a proper look at it, the entryway was large. Most of what she could see was clearly unnatural, imprints of tools where the early excavators had widened up the entryway clearly visible. Despite the fact that the place hadn’t been used in several hundred years, the dust and debris build-up wasn’t that bad. Sure, she could see dozens of spiderwebs alone on the barricade wall, and there was a fine smattering of gravel and sand over the cavern floor, partially covering the rail tracks but—she stopped as something odd caught her eye.
“Hey, you!” she called, pointing her hoof. “Don’t move!” Several of the ponies looked up in surprise as her voice echoed across the cavern. “Yes, you!” Sky Bolt called again as a small, red earth pony looked up at her in confusion. She drifted down, taking care not to kick up any wind with her wings. “Stay right there,” Sky Bolt said as she landed. It wasn’t as clear from down here as it had been from up above, but ...
“Alright, step here,” she said, tapping the stone with her hoof. “Lightly.”
“What’s going on?” Amethyst asked as she trotted over, concern in her voice. “What are you—”
Sky Bolt held up one hoof in the same manner that she’d seen Steel and other commanding officers in the Guard do. To her surprise, it worked. Amethyst came to a quick stop, her mouth still open. She stood looking at Sky Bolt for a moment in confusion.
“Amethyst,” Sky Bolt said, still looking down at the floor of the cavern. “Are these caves home to any natural wildlife?”
“None that we know of,” Amethyst said. “Why?”
“Well,” Sky Bolt said, stepping back a bit. “Something’s been in here recently.” She pointed down at the massive three clawed footprint imprinted against the cave's dusty floor. “And that’s not all,” she said, pointing at the ground near Amethyst’s own hooves. A faint line of hoofprints, pointing into the cave, not out, was marked in the dust just in front of where Amethyst was standing. “Hoofprints, heading in, not out.” Amethyst’s eyes grew wide, although when she spoke, it wasn’t what Sky Bolt had expected to hear.
“But … But this is a restricted area!” she said, her eyes narrowing in anger. “Who would come in here?”
There was a low-throated scream of shock from deeper within the cavern. Sky Bolt snapped to attention as the scream echoed around them, reverberating off of the walls. Amethyst’s face went white with shock. “Granite!” She turned and bolted deeper into the caves.
Amethyst’s movement shocked Sky Bolt into action. What was it Hunter said? she thought as she snapped her wings back, launching herself forward at top speed. She rocketed past the frantic Amethyst, Hunter’s words coming to mind as she flew deeper into the caves.
“You’re Dusk Guard,” he’d told her. “If you hear screaming, you should be flying towards it, not away.”
She swooped down next to Granite, her eyes open, checking every corner and every shadow. Reflected lanternlight bounced back at her from hundreds of crystals, but nothing life threatening stood out.
“What’s the matter?” she asked Granite, stepping in front of him when he didn’t immediately look at her. “Why’d you scream?” Amethyst skidded to a halt beside Granite, her chest heaving. Then her eyes caught sight of something behind Sky Bolt and she gasped.
Sky Bolt whipped around, throwing her weight to her rear legs as she went into the starting stance of Tempest. She held the pose for a moment, wings extended as her eyes searched for a threat among the dim light.
“They’re gone,” Granite said at last. “Gone.”
Sky Bolt dropped her hooves and turned to face the unicorn. “What’s gone?”
“The crystals,” Amethyst said, her voice shaky, one hoof raised and pointing. Sky Bolt frowned and followed her hoof. There, some ten feet away from them, was a single, stump-like protrusion of milky-white clear crystal, its top jagged and splintered, as if some giant had ripped the rest of the crystal from its base. Sky Bolt took a few steps forward and the light at her side illuminated more broken crystal growths, jagged stumps that spiked up from the cavern floor.
She continued forward, ignoring another gasp from Amethyst as more and more broken crystal stumps came into view. Some of the growths hadn’t even been taken, the large crystal spires tossed to one side like broken toys, their sides chipped and cracked, or in some cases, split entirely.
“It’s worse,” Granite said, a quiver in his voice. “Whoever did this was throwing around magic like it didn’t matter. He opened the front of the analyzer, pulling out a length of paper and passing it to Amethyst. “This entire area was saturated with it.”
“How can you tell?” Sky Bolt asked as she trotted back towards the group. Other ponies from the expedition were showing up now, including some that hadn’t even come into the cave in the first place. They must have heard the scream.
“The crystals, they aren’t giving off the right levels of magic,” Granite said as he held up the paper. “There’s no telling how they might react.” There was a series of gasps from the newly arrived ponies at the news. Most of them looked shocked, while some of them were looking at the destroyed crystal monoliths in horror.
Sky Bolt sat in silence for a moment, trying to decide what to do. She was just there for the crystals, but apparently somepony else had been there as well. She ran her eyes over the massive crystal growths that were lying broken on the ground. Some of them were as large, or larger, than three ponies standing end to end. Unbroken and the right variety of crystal, they would have been perfect for her needs. She thought back on the hoofprints and footprint she’d found.
She gave a frustrated sigh, wings drooping. Time to see if her job carried any weight. “Alright, everypony out of the cave!” she called, putting on her best serious expression and using her wings to get above the group. “Out! Carefully, watch where you step!” The geology crew looked up at her in surprise.
“As of right now,” she continued, ignoring the muted questions that came back at her, “this area is under the authority of the Dusk Guard.” She looked every member of the group in the eye, doing her best to mimic the stern look Steel gave the team every morning. “Walk out now, or I’ll haul your plot out.”
The glare, combined with her words, had the hoped for effect. Eyes dull with disappointment and light resentment, ears down, the geologists began to make for the cave entrance. Two ponies however, remained motionless: Granite and Amethyst. Both seemed to be in a state of shock, staring at the broken crystal fragments like they represent shattered pieces of their lives. Which, Sky Bolt reflected, given how excited Amethyst had been at the prospect of entering the caverns, that was likely true.
“Come on,” she said, putting a hoof on Amethyst’s shoulder and shaking her from her stupor. “We need to move out of here.”
“But the crystals—” Amethyst started to say.
“Will still be here when you come back,” Sky Bolt said. “If this place really runs for miles, then the crystals are probably fine further in. I’m not going to let you find out without a decent sized escort, though.”
“But—”
“Some of those broken pillars must weigh a ton,” Sky Bolt said, running a lightning-fast calculation in her head to make sure that she was accurate. “If whatever broke those babies down is still around, I don’t want you or Granite alone when you find out. So let’s get you and Granite out of here,” she said, putting her hooves on one side of the analyzer and pushing. “So I can get some backup and come back.”
* * *
“Sky Bolt’s not back yet?” Hunter asked, noticing the distinct lack of a faint bass beat as he walked into the common room. He was dripping wet, over the last hour the light drizzle that had followed him on his shopping spree had become a veritable downpour that was well on its way to becoming a waterfall.
“No, she’s not,” Steel said. The large earth pony stallion was relaxing on the couch, running a damp rag over a large metal gauntlet. “Somepony apparently broke into the Crystal Caverns and wrecked a bunch of crystal growths, so she pulled the geology team out and called for the Royal Guard to assist. I sent Sabra down to give her some backup.”
Hunter frowned at the news. “You didn’t go with her?”
Steel shook his head. “No, she sounded like she had the situation well under control, so I ordered her to take command. We’ll see how it goes. Why the frown?”
Hunter shook his head. “Boss, I just spent the last hour or so building a very, very interesting pattern with our thefts. And in light of what you just told me, I don’t like it one bit.”
“Why?” Steel asked, setting the gauntlet aside. The heavy metal made a dull thump against the tabletop. A series of smooth metal protrusions protruded from the gauntlet's surface, giving it a ridged appearance. “What’d you find?”
“Alright, follow with me,” Hunter said, ignoring the wet smack his saddlebags made against the couch as he sat down across the table from Steel. “For almost a month now I’ve been trying to figure this out, and it’s been making me crack a fruity.” He pulled his saddlebags off and sat them on the table, ignoring Steel’s blink of surprise at the odd colloquialism. “And I probably wouldn’t have hit on it without that whole ‘key’ thing. Now, look here,” he said, pulling a small, colorful box from his saddlebags. “This is one of the items on the list. Recognize it?”
“Yeah,” Steel said as Hunter tossed the package to him. Inside was small statue of a Wonderbolt, a pegasus named Rapidfire. “My nephew has one like this,” Steel said as he rotated the box in his hooves. The side proudly proclaimed that the toy could speak several trademark phrases as well as play the Wonderbolt anthem. Steel looked at it dubiously and then set it aside.
“Alright,” Hunter said, reaching into the bag and pulling another item out. This time it was another children's toy, this time a stuffed Princess Celestia doll, the tag proudly proclaiming that her horn actually glowed so she could “raise the sun.”
“Now this, also on the list,” Hunter said as he pulled a third item, a small nightlight with an unlit purple gem designed to glow softly when charged. “So, what does this have in common,” he asked as he set the nightlight on the table, “with all the other items stolen on the list?”
Steel stared at the three toys for a moment and then shook his head. “I don’t know.”
Without saying a word, Hunter reached across the table and picked up the boxed Wonderbolt figure. He popped the lid off, pulled the toy from it’s confinement, and then, with a sharp, crisp motion, smashed it between his hoof and the table. There was a loud crack as the plastic split, and Steel winced as he saw the mangled remains of the toy.
“They all,” Hunter said, carefully holding the small, pale pink crystal that had been inside the toy on one hoof, “have one of these somewhere.” He dropped the crystal to the table with a faint clatter. “Every piece of jewelry, every toy, every lamp, every single item on that list, had at least one crystal in it. That’s what our thieves are after,” he said, looking Steel in the eyes. “I don’t know why yet, but they’re stealing crystals.”
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Their could be two groups collaberating. Dragon or dragons working with ponies. And I have another idea. What if someone somehow found out about the Crystal Empire and wanted to create a short crystal shortage before it appeared, They would then sell the crystals for a high price before the market bottomed out on crystals.
I like Key's Idea but it wouldn't make sense to ruin the crystals in the caverns if they were after profit. Those crystals would not be going out on th open market with archeologist teams just now exploring the caverns. Maybe this group is trying to learn about the different kind of crystals that exist in the current market and sabatoge them somehow.
On and unrelated note is Moon Pie related to Pinkie Pie in any way?
2852964
She's a cousin.
I cannot say anything about any other theories at this time however. All I can say is you will have more answers (and questions) soon!
2863132
Onward!
(\ Glad you enjoyed him. That's an interesting description. And accurate.
"Patrols would come into a care (car) to find it disturbed"
"The heavy metal made a dull thump on the table, and for theHunter??? noticed a series of smooth metal protrusions ringing the outside of the gauntlet."
A bit of editing that is needed. Love the story. You keep me guessing.
2896890
Fixed! Luckily I happened to be by a computer! Thanks for pointing those out!
And I'm glad you're having fun with it. Prepare for more surprises!
Oh look, ANTIMAGIC TECH. I WONDER IF SOME OF THIS STUFF GOT NICKED AND IS CURRENTLY BEING USED BY THE THIEVES?
Crystaaaaaaals. Either Sombra's (avatar?) out early, or thre are some dragons/diamond dogs involved. who else would want crystals?
If she thinks Moon is odd, then I hope she doesn't run into Pinkie.
Sweet called it just in time, I should have figured it out earlier but I'm still hung up on the characters you've got on the outskirts of the fic. Trying to figure out how they all fit in is much more fun
claimed
Why use crystals for those toys when you can just get a bunch of cheap electronics from China?
>“Alright, follow with me,” Steel said, ignoring the wet smack his saddlebags made against the couch as he sat down across the table from Steel.
u wot
i instantaneously thought "related to pinkie!"
What portalz0r said.
4837920 no really
Oh no, He's talking to himself, He's finally cracked!
Sorry, Pretty sure the first "Steel" Should be "hunter" instead
moment's
Element-bearer
per se,
girl's
magic-free,
claimed
Wonderbolt
crystal-clear
somepony's
Specialist, fuschia
Canterlot's
its
area
children's toy