Operation - Chapter 1
Chapter 1
“All in all, I would say that you’re quite lucky,” Dawn said, her horn aglow as she made a final adjustment to his cast. “Considering that you leapt from a moving train following a demented golem. You could have been killed.”
"Yeah, I kind of thought about that for a moment,” Nova said, wincing as Dawn’s spell rolled up and down his broken leg, creating twinges of fire that burned into his shoulder. The broken limb was fairly secure in the cast that the pink mare had set on it the night before, but the accelerated healing spells she was casting on it alternated between itching like mad and making him feel like he’d broken the limb all over again.
“So you’ve said,” Dawn replied, turning his cast slightly and sending another healing spell into his leg. “And yet you jumped anyway. I don’t expect you’d care to explain your reasons for such a decision?”
He winced as another jolt of pain shot up his leg. “Don’t you have some anesthesia spells for this?” he asked.
“I do,” she said, her horn sending another surge of dull-orange magic up Nova’s limb. “But I’ve been treating injuries on everypony for hours now, and I’d rather conserve what little magic I have left.” She looked up at him, giving him a clear view of her bloodshot eyes and frazzled mane. “Unless you’d rather the healing take a day or two longer.”
“No, that’s alright,” Nova said, feeling a bit guilty for asking. “I’m sorry I asked.”
“Hmm. Apology accepted.” There was a final pulse of magic that almost made his eyes water. “Now to see if any of your bandages need changing.” She walked around to the other side of the medical lab’s examining table, her horn glowing. Several of the gauze bandages on his side answered the call of her magic, lighting up and peeling away from his body.
“Well, you’re in luck,” she said. Nova did his best to look unconcerned as the unicorn leaned her head in close to the injuries, inspecting them closely. “It looks like the stitches are holding up, and ...” she paused and there was a brief cool tingle, almost like an ice pack had been pressed up against the cuts. “The area is still clear of any infection.” The gauze pads floated away and deposited themselves in a garbage can, replacements already sweeping out of a white sterile cupboard.
“So, one broken forelimb, twenty-seven stitches, and numerous other cuts and bruises,” Dawn said, summarizing as she taped the new gauze in place. “So why did you jump, as opposed to waiting for say, Captain Song to stop the train, or at least for Hunter to airlift you like he did to Sabra?”
Nova turned his head back, doing his best to look Dawn right in the eye. “Why the curious fixation?”
She shrugged as she checked another dressing. “Just making conversation. Turn your head back, I don’t want your skin bunching up.”
“Right,” he said, rolling his eyes and complying. “Anyway, who cares? I jumped. So what? That thing landed in a club, if I hadn’t followed it, who knows who could’ve been hurt. It might have even escaped.”
“Careful, Nova,” she said, her voice unusually light-hearted. “Some might interpret that as a sense of nobility. What would the other Guard divisions think if our thief was discovered to be noble and selfless?”
“I did it for the mission,” he said, still facing ahead, but in his mind his statement was more of a question. Was that all you did it for? he asked himself, and in his heart he knew the answer. “And maybe because it was a bit dangerous for everypony else, yeah.”
“Hmm,” Dawn said, moving around to his other side. “Well, then I feel I must apologize,” she said, tossing her head to clear the unkempt mane from her eyes. “I have apparently misjudged your character. Perhaps there is something more to you than a young plothead after all.”
“Thanks.” He frowned as he shot a glance her way. “I think.”
“Head forward!” Dawn ordered, rapping his cut with her horn and sending a slight shock of pain along his back. “Don’t make me remind you again. Let’s get this over with so I can go get some sleep, and you can get back to your bed rest.”
Right, Nova thought as he turned his head back to the front. Because I’m totally going to sit around on my flank for three or four days while I heal up. His mind hopped back to one of the spellbooks he’d been looking over a few nights before, one he’d found in a truly ancient part of the royal library. Hunter or Sabra should be able to give me a hoof in escaping as soon as Dawn goes lights out ... He smiled faintly, plans for escaping his doctor's care already in place.
* * *
“Have you two been up all night?” Steel asked as he walked into the workshop. Sky Bolt and Hunter looked up from the mangled remains of the golem where it lay spread out on a workbench.
“I haven’t,” Hunter said, his voice slightly raised over the thumping beats coming from the workshop's speakers. Sky Bolt went right back to examining the construct's leg. “I took a few hours.”
“And you?” Steel asked, turning his attention to Sky Bolt.
“Nope,” Sky Bolt said in a cheery voice without even looking up. “No time! I can sleep later. I’ve got sugar, music, and a cra-azy golem-thing to examine!” She let out a small giggle, her mane shaking. It was frazzled and, as if on a condition of her workshop, streaked with grease.
“I can’t say that that really fills me with confidence,” Steel said, giving his eyes a small roll. “How’s your wing?”
“It’s fine since Dawn took a look at it,” she replied, extending the wing in question without looking up. The limb in question had been bent painfully under her body when the golem had attacked her. “All better.” She let out another giggle.
Hunter rolled his eyes. “I’ve been helping her for the last hour or so,” he said. “She’s figured out some pretty crazy stuff about this thing.”
“Alright, lay it on me,” Steel said, watching as Sky Bolt attacked the golem’s knee with a spanner.
“Alright, well first of all, it’s a powered construct,” Hunter said. “Although we all knew that much. However, it looks like it wasn’t remotely controlled.”
“You’re sure?”
Hunter shook his head, long mane swinging underneath his hat. “Not without a unicorn to identify the enchantment on the crystal, but Sky Bolt is pretty certain she knows what both crystals were for.”
“Both crystals?" Steel turned towards the construct and then back towards Hunter. "There's more than one?"
“Yep!” Sky Bolt said, her head popping up. She gave her wings a quick flutter and floated up over the workbench, hovering just over the golem's chest. “Turns out,” she said, pushing her hooves under the chest of the golem and folding it up with ease. “This crystal on its chest is just one of them. From the look of it, I’d guess that it's been enchanted with whatever spell makes this thing move and gives it its directions. I’d have to look at it under a microscope to make sure, because if it is the crystallization will have to line up just right ...” her voice trailed off for a moment as she stuck her head into the thing's chest cavity.
“You’re sure this thing's safe?” Steel asked, a mental image of the chest snapping shut on the young pegasus filling his head.
‘What?” Sky Bolt asked, her head popping up from within the golem. “Oh, yeah, easy,” she said with an off-hoof wave. “That last blast of Hunter's last night cracked both the crystals. Unless they get fixed or really—and I mean really—pumped full of magic, this thing's just a hunk of metal and wood. Anyway ...” Her head disappeared into the chest again, only to emerge a second later with a second crystal held in her teeth. She spat it out onto the table.
“Had to remove this anyway,” she said, fluttering back down to the ground next to the workbench. “Like I was saying, if the crystal on the front does that, then this one—” she tapped the smaller and darker colored crystal with her hoof, “—is probably a battery of sorts. In fact,” she said, nodding her head at Hunter, “Hunter mentioned that in the reports he collected the magilights kept giving out when these things were around.”
“Well, that’s what it sounded like,” Hunter said, clarifying her words. “But since it happened last night, I’m pretty sure that the theory was correct.”
“Anyway,” Sky Bolt said, turning back to Steel. “Running this thing probably took a lot of magic, so this crystal was likely enchanted to soak up an ambient magic. And since magilights aren’t really that well shielded, once this thing went active it probably soaked up all the ambient magic it could find, which would put the lights right out.”
“Okay,” Steel said, giving her a nod. “Anyway to test that theory?”
She shrugged. “We could stick the crystal up to one of the magilights in the barracks and see if it absorbs anything. The ones in here are shielded.” She dropped the crystal on the table with a sharp thump and went back to studying the golem's knee.
“We’ll check it later,” Hunter said, filling the empty space that Sky Bolt had left. “We also answered one of the most important questions though. We know how it, and however many others there are, are getting on and off the trains.”
For a moment Steel started. He’d forgotten that there had been a few thefts on the same day. “How many more of these could there be?” he asked. “And how do we catch them?”
“Easy,” Hunter said, trotting around the workbench. “Numbers-wise I can’t say without some more research. At least one more. Maybe as many as three or four. But as to catching them ...”
He put both his front hooves under the golem’s arm and grunted, lifting the metal and wood limb up. “Take a look at this.” Stenciled on the wood was a simple numeric code followed by two names, the first of which sounded like a company, the second detailing the contents of the box.
“This thing folds up,” Hunter said, dropping the golem's arm with a thump. “And when it does, all the wooden paneling on it lines up and makes it look just like any other crate. Complete,” he said, tapping the stenciled wood, “with a cargo manifest.”
Steel felt his jaw drop. “Are you telling me that these things have been coming onto the train disguised as the cargo?”
“Yup,” Hunter said, shaking his head. “In fact, they’ve been getting inspected, which means these things even open like a real crate. My guess is that they just wait until nopony is around, activate, grab some crystals, and then fold back up. At the end of the ride, they get unloaded and picked up by whoever is waiting for them and bam! Our thieves have their haul.”
“That’s ...” Steel let his voice trail off as he tried to think of something to say. His head felt like it was full of cobwebs.
“I know what you’re thinking, boss,” Hunter said with a grin. “Sleep, followed by how this thing sounds pretty unbelievable.” He laughed. “But hey, the good news is, we’ve got the shipment number.” Hunter tapped the arm again. “All we need to do is dig through the ERS record office and we’ll find out exactly who shipped this thing and where it came from. If we’re lucky, they’ll have been shipping the rest of them and we’ll get the whole pile at one go.”
“Best news I’ve heard yet,” Steel said, turning away. “Keep at it and let me know the moment you find anything.”
“Will do, boss,” Hunter said. “But there’s one more thing.”
He stopped and turned back. “What is it?”
“Just this,” the tan pegasus said, his voice serious. “Hey, Sky Bolt!” The blue maned head popped up. ears up and eyes wide. “How much did you say this thing was worth?”
“Hard to say exactly,” Sky Bolt said, fluttering back on her wings and looking at the golem as a whole. “The design is brilliant, the amount of time and engineering that went into this is genius. Plus the cost of materials, especially the crystals, they’d cost a fortune to get, unless they were made. All in all, building it on your own would cost maybe a couple of thousand bits. Buying one would cost even more. As for worth, something like this could be worth a lot more if you came up with something for it to do like hazard jobs or something. Just between the design and the materials, I’d bet a pony could sell it for at least thirty-thousand bits. Maybe more.”
This time Steel didn’t feel his jaw drop, but the number hit him almost as solidly as one of Sabra’s sparring hits. “Thirty thousand?” he asked, almost unbelieving. His home in Canterville had cost less than that. Far less!
“Yeah, easy,” she said with a nod. “Like I said, you could build one if you had the parts for a lot less, but it’s still going to cost you a couple of thousand bits easy. Plus the time.”
“Which means,” Hunter said, taking the reins of the conversation back. “Whoever is running this operation isn’t making any bits off of it, at least not with anything that we’ve heard of being stolen or recovered.”
“By how much?” Steel asked, his mind back on topic.
“Well, they did manage to steal an ancient urn that was priceless, but it turned up sans gems a few weeks later in a pawn shop.” Hunter began rubbing the back of his head with one hoof. “So, even with only one of these, if they’ve made any profit at all they’ve made hardly anything,”
“So the motive isn’t likely profit then?” Steel said, and Hunter nodded. “Alright,” he said, rubbing at his forehead with one hoof. “Keep working on it, see if you can find another motive for the thefts.” He frowned as another thought came to him. “Also, see what you can think up on reasons for and against letting the rest of the Guard in on this. We don’t want to spring this early and lose our chance at getting to the root of things.”
“You bet boss, I’ll have it to you this afternoon, once Sky Bolt gives out and collapses.”
“Not going to happen!” Sky Bolt called from where she was still examining the golem leg. “I have sugar! Lots of it! Sleep is for the weak!” She let out a slightly mad laugh and Hunter shook his head, rolling his eyes.
“Alright,” Steel said, backing towards the door. He couldn’t decide if he should be amused or impressed. “I’ll expect your report in a few hours then.”
“Never gonna happen!” Sky Bolt shouted, letting out another cackle of laughter even madder than the first. Steel shut the door to the workshop, then, on an afterthought, pressed his ear to against the heavily insulated door just in time to make out the faint laughter from the pair. He smiled, gave his head a small shake, and headed for his office.
* * *
Nova looked down at the tome he’d been reading and let out an exasperated sigh. Bored, he thought to himself with a small shake of his fiery red mane. Bored, bored, bored, bored, bored. He could only study ancient texts of magic for so long, even as intriguing as this particular volume was. Eventually he had to get out and practice some of it. Some of the instructions weren’t even understandable without at least giving the spell a few runs to see exactly how it functioned, and he didn’t want to do that in his room.
He looked back down at the page for the spell that had so far interested him the most: The Crescent Shield. It was technically a shield spell, which most unicorns learned at some point in their lives simply for the convenience of shielding themselves from wind and rain. But it was unlike most other shields in that it was a defensive and offensive spell. According to the description, the Crescent Shield would actually reflect attacks and impacts away from itself. The book's author claimed that with practice, the caster of the Crescent Shield could actually reflect both magic and physical attacks back at their source. The downside of course, was that the Crescent Shield only existed for a moment, and the book's unnamed author pointed out that it required quite a bit of practice to use effectively.
In fact, the author had even divided the spell into a series of steps, detailing the various points of the spell and how it worked, although the language was a bit archaic and unwieldy. Some of the steps were worded in a way that didn’t even make sense to him, but he assumed with a little trial and error he’d be able to figure it out.
He flipped through the pages again. I still don’t understand this organizational system, he thought as the pages turned. Shield spells mixed in with offensive bolts and spells to teleport items, all grouped under the heading of ‘LY?’ What does ‘LY’ stand for?
He closed the book and stared at it for a moment. The title was simple, declaring the tome to be “Advanced Combat Spells.” Of the author there was no mention. The book had no introduction, no explanation, not even a page of contents. And unless he missed his guess, it was one of a kind. It was clearly hoof-written rather than printed, and the pages were full of lavishly colored illustrations that were detailed works of art.
It was also very, very old. If he closed his eyes and probed at it with his horn, he could feel the myriad of powerful enchantments on it, enchantments which echoed from the other books he’d collected from the royal library. Enchantments designed to prevent decay, to slow the aging of the materials, to prevent fading. But unlike those, the magic on this tome was powerful. He could feel the force of the magic on the book. Whoever had enchanted it had been way more powerful than the average librarian. While the rest of the books he’d checked out would need to have their spells renewed every few decades, the book sitting on his bed probably hadn’t been renewed since it was written.
Which of course, made it all the cooler. He flopped back on the bed, wincing as some of the gauze bandages tugged at his coat. Had it been long enough yet? Sitting in his bed with nothing to do but read spells he didn’t dare practice and feel his broken leg itch was enough to drive him mad. He couldn’t sleep, he’d already done enough of that.
His eyes shot up to the clock in the corner of the room. It was nearly three. Was that long enough for Dawn to have gone to sleep?
Nova rolled off of the bed and hobbled over to the door, pulling it open with his horn and taking a quick peek outside. The hall was empty. As silently as he manage with one hoof completely useless, he made his way down the hall towards Dawn’s room. Once there, he slid his ear up against the door, holding his breath and closing his eyes. Barely, just barely, he could make out the sounds of deep, gentle breaths.
Nova’s face lit up in a grin. She was asleep! He hurried back to his room, grabbing his saddlebags and sliding a few books into them, including the old tome with the Crescent Shield spell. Taking one last look around his quarters to make sure he wasn’t missing anything, he hit the lights and trotted out. Even with his broken leg, it wouldn’t take him too long to make his way to the empty stone room in the castle that he’d been using as a training ground. A smug grin slid across his face as he made his way towards the barracks entrance, his horn already lighting up to pull the door open. He was free!
“Oh! Excuse me.” A soft voice made his heart jump as he swung the door open. A burgundy unicorn stood in front of him, her deep blue mane almost sparkling in the sun. “Is this the barracks for the Dusk Guard?”
“Yes it is,” Nova said, his momentary panic fading away. “Can I help you?”
“Yes,” the mare said. “I’m looking for Steel.” The softness in her voice vanished as she said the name.
“Captain Song?” There was something about the way the mare had said his name that made his coat-hair stand on end. “Could I ask why?”
She groaned, eyebrows low. “Because I need to kick my brother's stupid flank six ways from Sunday.”
Nova almost stepped back in surprise. “Wait a second," he said, his mind backpedaling from her words, “You’re Captain Song’s sister?” She's no where near as big as he is, he thought as he looked at her. Still ... He could see a resemblance in her muzzle and in the eyes.
“Yeah,” the mare said, shaking her head in annoyance. “And I need to speak to my brother. The guards told me he was this way. Is he here?”
“I don’t actually know,” Nova said, stepping back and motioning for her to enter the barracks. “If he is, he’ll be in his office.” He tilted his head at the raised room.
“Thank you,” she said, walking past him with her head held high. She paused and looked at him with a critical eye. “Did you get those injuries last night?” She asked.
“Yeah, I did,” he said, nodding. “But I’m in good hooves. Anyway, I need to get moving,” he said, gesturing with his cast. “Good luck talking to the captain.”
Her face darkened. “Luck is the least of his worries,” she said, marching towards the office stairs with purpose. Nova backed out the barracks door, closing it behind him. As a thief, there had always been that little voice inside the back of his head that occasionally warned him that he should urgently be somewhere else.
That little voice was in full swing now. He headed for the castle, eager to put as much difference in between himself and whatever family inflammation was about to happen in the barracks.
* * *
“Come in,” Steel said, his voice muffled by the pen clutched in his lips as the knock echoed through the office. The door clicked open and shut, light hoofsteps making their way across the room to the front of his desk.
Light hoofsteps, controlled stride, he thought as he brought the pen to a halt. Must be Dawn. He dropped the pen and looked up. “What do you need Daw—” His voice died in his throat as he saw the unicorn mare standing across from him.
“Hello, Steel,” Sapphire said. Her teeth were clenched, and he recognized the stance she was in as one she’d always taken when she wanted to control her breathing.
“Sapphire,” he said, leaning back slightly. If his sister’s body language was any indication, everypony with an ounce of sense would be running for the hills right now. “I know you’re mad—”
“Mad? I’m not mad,” she said, her voice ice cold. Steel grimaced.
“I’m furious." Her right eye twitched. “I can’t believe that my brother, the one I looked up to for all these years—” she began to walk around the desk, taking a step with each word that fell from her lips, “—is such an absolute, idiotic, plothead!” She jabbed him in the chest with her hoof. “It’s been weeks Steel! And what have you done? You’re just going to never speak to her again and hope the problem goes away?”
“Sapphire—” he pushed himself back from his sister’s jabbing hoof. “I don’t—”
“You don’t what?” his sister shouted. “Don’t care? Don’t want to deal with it? Don’t like her?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Steel shouted, finally losing his temper. “I didn’t know when you threw me out of your house, and I don’t know now!” He took a deep breath as the room filled with a stunned silence, counting backwards in his mind as he forced himself to calm down.
“I don’t know who you’re talking about.” he said again, his voice calmer. “I really don’t. You came back from your trip and the next thing I knew, you were furious with me.”
His sister was still glaring at him, her eyes damp. “How can you not know what I’m talking about?” she asked, her voice wavering. “You broke her heart, Steel. How can you not know who I’m talking about?”
“I—what—” His mind raced back over the last few weeks, a single mare’s image coming to mind. “Wait, are you talking about Cappy?” he asked, his jaw dropping.
His sister’s eyes flashed. “Who else would I be talking about?”
“But—how—I—how do you even know Cappy?” Steel asked, dropping back on his haunches in shock.
“How do I—” Sapphire sputtered. “Does it even matter?”
“Well, yes!” he said. His stomach was sinking, as if the floor had faded away underneath him, dropping him into a heavy void.
“Steel, she was my roommate's best friend!” Sapphire said, sitting back on her own haunches. “I knew her all through college. She was at my wedding!”
“I—” He felt his voice give out. “She was at your wedding?”
“You—you really don’t remember?” Sapphire's face took on a look of amazement. Steel shook his head. “She wasn’t a bridesmaid or anything Steel, but she was there. She danced with you.”
“She did?” The sunken pit in his stomach was rising now.
Sapphire shook her head sadly. “You really don’t remember?”
“I—” Steel stopped, thinking back. He remembered the wedding. He remembered leaving the Griffon territories in advance, turning down numerous jobs just to be in Canterlot the day his sister had gotten married to Click. He remembered wishing that his parents had been there to see his sister so happy. He remembered the dancing afterwards. And … he remembered a blue maned mare in an equally blue dress that had danced with him on the dance floor. One with golden eyes and an emerald coat.
“But ...” he said, his jaw dropping again. “She was there, but—”
“She didn’t stop talking about you for days after the wedding,” Sapphire said, her voice quiet. “I guess she’d gone to the wedding partially just to meet you, after all the stories I’d told about you when we were in college together.” She gave a small sniffle, although he hadn’t noticed any tears in her eyes. “When you retired and moved to Canterville, she sent me the happiest letter. It was like a dream come true for her.” She looked up at him. “She never told you?”
He shook his head. “No, she was always just a friendly neighbor. She’d deliver my mail, make small talk ...” He dropped his muzzle into his hooves as all the times she’d talked with him, invited him to spend time with her and Summer, or helped out with something flooded into his mind.
“I’ve been an idiot,” he said, his ears drooping. “A complete idiot. But ...” He looked up at his sister. “But ... I always thought she was ...” he paused for a moment, “Twenty or something. A young mare slightly interested in the old gentlecolt.”
Sapphire’s jaw fell open. “Steel, she’s two years older than I am! She always looked young, some ponies just do! You actually thought—?” She let out a hesitant laugh. “Big brother, you really are stupid sometimes.”
“I—I can’t argue with that right now,” he said, his mind reeling. His gut felt as if he’d eaten week old oatmeal. “So when you left a few weeks ago—”
“It was to go see Cappy with my friends in Manehatten,” she said, nodding. “I didn’t know when I left, or I would have asked you right then and there. She’s—” her eyes darted around the room, “—she’s pretty broken up Steel. I don’t know what you said to her but—”
“It was the wrong thing,” Steel said, shaking his head. “I barely said anything to her, and what I did hurt. I was dismissive, I—” He slumped as he remembered Cappy’s crestfallen expression, his shoulders sagging. “I was an idiot.” For a moment the room was silent save for the ticking of the clock and the breaths of the two ponies.
“So why didn’t she ever tell me that she knew you?” he asked after a moment. “If I had known that she’d known you in college—”
Sapphire scoffed. “Probably because how you were about to finish that sentence. Cappy was never one to ride off on another's success when she could do it alone. Or she didn’t want you to think that she’d been interested in you for years. I don’t know.”
Steel took a deep breath. “Is she … back in Canterville now?” His sister gave him a gentle nod, and he returned it with one of his own.
Well, Steel, you really messed this one up. To think that for years— He shut off the train of thought, but he couldn’t keep the image of Cappy, her eyes filled with hurt, staring up at his as she’d shut the door in his face.
“I need to go,” he said, climbing to his hooves. “Now.” He strode around the desk, his report to the Princesses forgotten. Sapphire clamored to her hooves behind him.
“Now? Where?” she asked as she followed him out of the office. He didn’t pause in his stride, not even to grab his saddlebags.
“To Canterville,” he said, feeling a firmness in his voice. Even to his own ears it sounded as if he was giving himself orders. “To right a mistake I made years ago.” He felt Sapphire’s hoof on his shoulder and stopped, turning to look at his sister.
“Whatever you’re going to do,” she said, sliding her hoof around his shoulders and wrapping him in a hug. “Just make sure it’s the right thing, ok?” She looked up at him. “And I’m sorry I didn’t explain myself.”
Steel shook his head. “I think I have more to apologize for.” He paused for a moment, returning the hug his sister had given him with one leg. “What you said before, about when I told you my life was empty and how it was my own fault—”
His sister shook her head. “Don’t dwell on it Steel, just go do the right thing.”
“But you were right,” he said, releasing his sister from the hug and heading for the door. “And I needed to hear it.” Then he stopped, turning back. “Are you going to be alright?” he asked. Sapphire gave him a silent nod.
“I’ll be fine,” she said, shooing him out the door with one hoof. “Go do your thing. And then,” she said, her voice taking on the same tone he’d heard her use on her kids, “come to the house and tell me exactly what happened.”
“I will.” Steel said. He bolted out the barracks door.
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Sometimes Steel can be thick as a brick. But looks like he can pony up to it.
Minor note:
You are missing an apostrophe here.
Also, I can't help but wonder what some of the other section headings are, besides LY.
Ah like clockwork another great chapter. I look forward to next week
2922786
Incidentally, he is aware of this. It's one of the reasons he wanted Hunter as his second-in-command.
2922834
Thanks for the spot. And you'll find out either this Friday or when the unique views hit 300. This next chapter happens to be one of my favorites, so I'm excited to post it.
2923038
Glad you liked it. Wait until next week though, and you might find yourself with a couple of chapters to go through!
So, way back when he first got kicked out, I was right!
So, way back when he first got kicked out, I was right!
2926594
It's always fun to make a prediction and then find you were right!
Hope you enjoyed the Q&A!
2926760 It is fun, and yes, yes I did!
2929280
Pretty good... but prefer Steel's current theme.
New crackpot theory, gems for robot transformers invasion?
Attagirl Bolt! Sleep is for the weak! *laughs maniacally*
LY? Probaby the name of the spellcaster. Can't think of any pony with those initials off the top of my mind.
And the hammer drops. Guess Steel was wrong about age. PUT EVERYTHING ON HOLD AND FIX THIS NOW YOU NUMBSKULL! Which is what he's going to do. Hopefully it's not too late.
silently as he could manage
The question and the answer don't match.
its, it's and its, respectively.
period
roommate's
I hope things work out for Cappy, but I hope Steel struggles a bit first. It's not enough for his sister to be furious at him.
2922834 Yes, there is a very noticeable lack of apostrophes in this story
Reminds me of Supreme Commander 2
2926594 it never occurred to me that it would be anything else.
Thick as steel! dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/Twilight_Sparkle_lolface.png
4082388 or it stands for something else.
BOOM!!! as predicted cappy is older then she look's.
5703142
!!!!!! You must be psychic!!!!
... Nope, still mad. Sapphire's justified in being mad, but I hate that "you should know what you did" card since it's so obnoxious.
And part of me wants to yell at Cappy too. If you like a guy say something, yes it's hard but you live....and to hang onto a crush for that long is less sweet and more a bit creepy.
I still feel it says a lot that I'm mad a fictional character.
I keep meaning to comment but the idea of pausing and not reading more of this story always overwhelms my need to compliment you for this incredible story. Nova especially is fascinating, but I'm loving watching Dawn come out of her shell in a way too.
Watching the group come together has been amazing and those golems... Wow, this is an incredible idea.
doctor's
workshop's speakers
Hunter's
at the very least
...Nope, she's still a coont. Now she's an unrepentant coont.
Back when I was young, the rule for post college (mid 20s+) dating was "half your age +10 years" = the lower limit for acceptable.