The Cliffjumper
Morning came far too quickly for Twilight, mostly because it was Pennington's definition of "morning."
"Twilight! Are you ready to go?" Pennington's voice brimmed with excitement as he stepped through the door of her bedroom.
Twilight slowly cracked her eyes open. The only light in the room was coming from the open door. Aside from that, there were no signs of any need to wake up. Twilight always tried to rise with the sun, but if the truth were ever to be told, waking up before sunrise had always been nearly impossible for her.
"Goawway..." She mumbled, pulling her covers up over her eyes. "The sun's not even up yet..."
"And the moon has almost set!" Pennington's voice was closer now, showing that he had stepped into the room. "If we don't hurry, we're going to miss the Cliffjumper!"
"The what?"
"Sure Shot's ship! He's leaving at sunrise, and he's offered to give us a ride as close to the changeling hive as possible!" Pennington was drawing closer and closer, Twilight could tell. "He says that he's seen it only a half-mile into the Tigerous Forest. They probably don't go farther in to avoid the tigers..." As Pennington grew silent for a moment, Twilight found herself almost curious enough to open her eyes and see what he was up to.
"And we need to get going because he's already getting ready to go!" Pennington's voice hissed into her ear. He was obviously putting more air into the words than he needed to, producing a stream of air that tickled at Twilight's inner ear. As the sudden sensation came to a peak, Twilight laughed in curled up into a ball under the covers, finally wide awake.
"Ah! Pennington! Don't do that!" She giggled as she poked her head out again. "That tickles!"
"Well, you're up, aren't you?" Pennington replied smugly. "We're leaving in an hour, so pack your things..."
Twilight raised an eyebrow of confusion. "Penny, I don't have any things. I wasn't expecting a trip like this when I followed you onto the train..."
"Well, then I guess we have some time, don't we?" Pennington went to sit down on the bed, but Twilight quickly waved him away.
"No, I have to take a shower and get myself cleaned up!" Twilight laughed a little and levitated him towards the door. "I'm not going out looking like this." She felt her face flush as she realized that her mane was a mess and her eye felt as if they were bloodshot. Pennington's story had comforted her at the time, but the moment that she had slipped under the bedsheets, her fear had set back in, keeping her up for at least another two hours. Twilight was used to the occasional late night of study, though, and knew that she would soon be back up on her hooves as if nothing had happened. "It's bad enough that you're seeing me like this."
"I kinda like it! It's cute." Pennington grinned widely as Twilight rolled her eyes and lifted him out through the door. "It shows that you're not just some kind of always-perfect little angel or something..." Twilight began to blush even harder and quickly shut the door.
Pennington's been really... laying it on thick... ever since we decided to be open with one another. Her mind flashed back to the kiss the night before. It's a nice change, but I feel like I should be doing something in return... Are we officially a couple, now? She shook her head, wishing away the emotional fog that was beginning to sweep into her mind. "I need to clear my head."
"This is FANTASTIC!" Pennington cried in the morning air. He was standing on the deck of the Cliffjumper as the massive all-terrain vehicle sped through the sand dunes. The wind was blowing hard, pulling his mane straight back and against his scalp. He was standing with his hooves spread securely, keeping him stable as the wheels lifted them up into the air and landed them back down again like a bucking bull. He was standing without any kind of protection or harness, with only a pair of goggles to protect his eyes.
And, standing right next to him, was Sure Shot in the same position. "YEE-HAWWWW!"
Twilight was watching the two idiots from the cockpit, where Close Care was steering and Constant was navigating.
"Boys will be boys..." Constant shook her head and smiled as the ship ramped off of another hill, taking them into the air. "And they love their toys..."
"You might want to get your boyfriend inside before he hurts himself. Again." Close Care quipped as she looked out on the deck. "If he gets thrown out of the low-wind zone created by the bow, he's going to be blown away."
Twilight felt her face flush as she looked away from the sight of the two friends, whom she had been watching closely. "Oh, sorry! I don't think that he'll listen to me if I-"
"Twilight, she was actually talking to me..." Constant blushed as she looked up from her maps. "The last time that Sure Shot was out there while we were driving, he broke his wing." She walked past Twilight and to the nearby window, sticking her head out to call to him. "Sure Shot! Honey, get inside! You're going to break your wing again, and this time, I'm not going to fix it for you!"
"Aw, I ain't gonna do that again! I learned last time!" Sure Shot called out as the Cliffjumper ramped over another hill, flying into the air. As the massive ship leaped into the air, the three girls watched in horror as the two stallions floated into the air in a rare moment of zero-gravity. Twilight watched in horror as both stallions became airborne. Following pegasus instinct, Sure Shot flared open his wings. This unfortunately sent him flying backwards in the wind, crashing face-first into the window with a force that made Twilight cringe. The window seemed to be some kind of reinforced glass, refusing to break and instead gracing them all with the sight of the pony's face squished and distorted by the continued force of the wind.
"Sure Shot!" Constant cried out, running forward and using her horn to pry him off of the glass and pull him in through the open window. As the woozy pegasus was cleared away from the glass, Twilight felt a panic of her own swelling up.
Pennington was gone.
"Close, where's Pennington?" Twilight ran up next to the nurse at the helm, her eyes darting from one side of the main deck to the other. Hysteria began to rise uncontrollably in her chest, throwing her into a tizzy. Every empty inch of the deck screamed at her with a taunting cry of "He's gone! He's gone!"
"Did he- I think he fell off! Close, you have to stop!"
"Relax. He's fine." Close Care pointed calmly with her hoof. Twilight couldn't see what she was pointing at at first, but as she looked more closely, she spotted what appeared to be a rope tied to one of the harpoon guns, made from what looked to be Pennington's magical energy. Almost instantly, her eyes travelled up the rope's length to the end. Pennington was grasping the rope firmly with both hooves and his teeth and waving back and forth in the buffeting wind. After a few seconds, he began climbing back down the rope hoof over hoof. Twilight's body tensed in fear as she marvelled not only at the strength that it must have taken to do so, but the fact that he had materialized an object quickly enough to grab hold of the ship. She watched with a mix of awe and horrifying worry as he pulled himself the last few yards to make it back into the "low-wind zone," as Close Care had called it, and finally fell back to the main deck. After a few steps to regain his balance, he turned back around, sent a quick salute to the cockpit, and walked back into the safety of the ship's lower decks.
As the sense of panic passed, Twilight felt infuriation begin to well up again inside of her. "Why does he do things like that? It's foolhardy and dangerous! If he hadn't cast that spell in time, he could be who-knows-where by now!"
"Can't you see his cutie mark?" To Twilight's surprise, it was Sure Shot, whose head was being closely inspected by Constant, who spoke up. "He loves adventure. Risk is his bread and water. Doing dangerous things is a part of who he is, take it or leave it..." He shrugged and looked back up at Constant, and Twilight could finally see the looks that they exchanged as the same ones that she had seen ponies give each other on Hearts and Hooves Day. She couldn't help but wonder if Sure Shot may have crashed on purpose for the attention, but she decided not to ask. Instead, she nodded and walked out of the room to find Pennington.
The moment that she found the night-blue stallion, her first course of action was, of course, to give him a firm smack upside the head, nearly knocking his face into a nearby wall. "Don't scare me like that! I was worried sick about you!"
"You worry too much, Twilight!" was Pennington's reply as he turned around to face her. "I always have the situation under control."
"As if!" Twilight shouted, giving him another smack upside the head. "If you think that I'm going to believe that nearly getting blown away, thrown off the ship, and left in the middle of the desert is 'under control,' you've got another thing coming!" She paused for a moment, collecting her thoughts as the feelings of panic and fear came back to her. "Pennington Inkwell, if you make me think that I've lost you again, so help me, I will find a spell to stop you from ever leaving my side again! I will keep you on a leash if I have to!" As the emotions grew stronger and stronger in her chest, Twilight wrapped her forelegs around the stallion and held him close against her, taking comfort from the fact that he was there, warm and tangible. "I almost lost you to that stupid worm, I almost lost you when you tried to send me back to Ponyville, and I thought that I had lost you just now..." Twilight couldn't recall a time that she had placed emotion so high above acting rational, but she couldn't seem to help herself now: the flood gates had opened. "And I'm as sure as anything that I could lose you in the Changeling Hive..."
"But you won't." Pennington returned Twilight's hug, grasping her tightly. Twilight's eyes began to water with emotion as their bodies touched with a connection as solid as the fear that she was feeling. "That's not going to happen. I'll be back in Ponyville in no time, saying how I told you so and rubbing it in your face."
"It's not just about winding up back in Ponyville!" Twilight pulled herself away from him, grasping his shoulders at arm's length and staring straight into his questioning eyes. "I don't just worry about the end result, Penny! I worry about your being in danger! If you were hurt! If this 'adventure' left you beaten or injured, which it already has, I wouldn't be able to forgive myself! It's not just whether you come back or not, it's what happens to you along the way!"
Pennington's eyes widened at Twilight's words, as if he were surprised.
"Nopony ever told me that... All that really mattered to them was the fact that I made it back to tell my story..." He muttered, looking down at the floor.
Twilight stepped back in shock, shaking her head. "Nopony ever cared enough about you to even care if you were safe?"
"Oh, no! They cared! Of course they cared!" Pennington quickly looked back up, ready to defend his friends. "But you have to remember two things! One, it was Scorching Quill going on these crazy adventures, not me, remember? Everyone who hears the story is thinking of him, not me! Two, they care, but when I tell ponies about it, I'm already back. They already know the ending!"
Without warning, Twilight seized upon an idea. "But what about your mother? Your father? I doubt that they would be okay with you unnecessarily risking your life like this!"
"They... Don't know. As far as they're concerned, Scorching Quill is just a nice guy who bails me out when I need money for Inkwell Comissions..." Pennington's voice dropped low and he looked down at the ground in shame. "I couldn't bear to do that to them... My mom nearly had a heart attack when she found out how I had gotten my cutie mark, can you imagine if she knew that I was raiding tombs and outrunning booby traps for a rush and a living?"
I know secrets about him that not even his mother knows... Twilight found herself momentarily thrown into a stupor. Maybe I should just move on... he seems to be pretty guilty about it.
"But do you see, Pennington? Putting yourself in danger this way can't be good for anypony! Your looking for 'adventure' is going to get you hurt or even killed! I couldn't bear to let that happen, especially if I knew that I could have prevented it." Twilight walked back to the stallion, running a hoof down his spine. "All I want is your safety..."
"Danger is my middle name, my love, and my bread and butter!" Pennington slowly straightened, drawing on a new resolve. "Why can't you believe me, Twilight? Why can't you believe IN me? Why is that so hard for you? Yes, what I do is dangerous, but I do it because I love it!"
"Because- Because nothing is worth risking a life! Most of all your life!" Twilight stomped her hoof on the ground. "Your life is worth the world, Pennington Inkwell! You said that you would die for me? Well, I would rather watch the world fall to pieces than let you throw your life away!" She shook her head, calming herself before she became caught up in her own fear.
"I'll come with you to make sure that you're okay. I'll follow you to the changeling hive. But, I want to ask you one more time..." She considered her next words carefully, knowing that this was her last bid to stop him. Now is not the time for holding back...
"Penny, please come home. Pennington, will you please come back to Ponyville and stop this?" She stepped forward, pushing her head into the crook of his neck and inhaling deeply. As a burning warmth spread over her face as she exhaled, she felt shivers run through his body. She lifted up her head again, staring him straight in the eyes once more. "Will you do that? For me? That's all I want, is to see you safe at home."
For the first time, Pennington seemed to consider her plea. His eyes rolled up towards the ceiling, lingered for a moment, then rolled down to the floor. They flicked left, then right, rolled in circles a few times, then finally rose back up to make contact again.
"Twilight Sparkle, I'll make you a deal." Pennington smiled wryly, making Twilight cringe. "Now, now, you haven't heard me..."
"You say that you're sure that you'll lose me in there... but I know otherwise. So, I'll make you a wager. If we make it back to Ponyville alive and safe, you stop trying to hold me back. If I get back to Ponyville and I'm badly hurt or injured, then I swear on Daring Do's compass that I will stay there from now on. I stay at home with my quills and my scrolls, and no more 'crazy' and dangerous adventures." To illustrate his point, he turned to his cutie mark and crossed his hoof over it.
"You swear... 'on Daring Do's compass?'"
"Yes! The compass is the representation of the spirit of adventure!" Pennington's smile grew across his face as he became excited. "If you need a compass, that means that you're someplace unfamiliar to you: someplace new and exciting! You can use a compass to set out into the unknown, or to find your way home. Daring Do is me, Twilight, just in a form that nopony recognizes."
I swear, he talks about "adventure" like some ponies talk about religion... "Daring is a pegasus. And a girl." Twilight knew that her sarcasm killed his idealistic mood, but she couldn't help herself.
"Which is why her wings are always getting broken. Look, Twilight, this is my final offer. I'm putting myself, an integral part of who I am and what I do, perhaps even a piece of my very soul, on the line here. You can take it or leave it."
"But... Either way I lose." Twilight muttered. "Either you get hurt and I don't have to worry about it happening again, or I have to keep worrying about you and I can't do anything to fight it..."
"You're asking a lot, too, Twilight."
Twilight took a moment, thinking of long-term pros and cons vs. short-term and weighing her options.
"Fine. Deal." She held out her hoof, and the two ponies shook on it, sealing the agreement. "Besides, there's an upside to each one, too. One way, you get home safe, the other, you stay safe."
"Exactly! Now, if you'll excuse me, I have important things to do!" With a wink, he brushed past Twilight and began climbing a nearby ladder.
"Penny, that leads to the main deck!" Twilight shouted as he reached to open the hatch.
Pennington paused for a moment. "Well, it's a good thing you told me! I thought that I was going to wind up someplace boring!" With another wink, he began to push open the hatch once more.
"Hey, if you two lovebirds are done pretending to fight, I need you both up in the pilot's cockpit!" Sure Shot's voice crackled over a speaker mounted on the wall.
Pennington jumped down from the ladder and held down a button beneath the radio on the wall. "Sure Shot, were you eavesdropping on us?"
"It's my ship, I can use the two-way radio for whatever I like! Now come on up here, I need you both!" Sure Shot was lacking his usual joking tone, instead sounding very tense.
"Whatever. We're on our way..." Pennington rolled his eyes and took his hoof off of the button. "Well, that was slightly embarrassing."
"Only slightly..." Twilight replied, walking by him as they both headed down the hallway.
"Alright, what's the big reason you needed us here?" Pennington asked, mirroring Sure Shot's solemnity. "You honestly couldn't have come to get us?"
"We've arrived, Pennington." The army-green pegasus pointed out through the window to a wall of trees edging the desert. "The changeling hive is about a quarter-mile into that jungle."
As Twilight looked out the window, it did seem as if they were looking into a jungle. The forest was a definite line, with no transition between the sand dunes and the trees, shrubs, and vines.
"I'm not going any closer than this, it would endanger my crew and even the entire NLR if even one changeling snuck aboard." Sure Shot's eyes were locked on the forest, as if he were expecting a changeling to jump out of every shadow. Pennington seemed to be following suit, refusing to take his eyes away from the foliage. "Not to mention, not even the Cliffjumper can power through those trees without getting stuck."
"Your fears are commendable. The Cliffjumper is a priceless asset, and one well-placed and smart changeling can crumble an entire country..." Pennington replied. Though he seemed to be simply staring off into the trees, Twilight could see that every inch of his body was tensed and primed to spring at an instant.
He's starting to take this seriously...
"And as for you, Twilight, you have mail!" Sure Shot turned back around to the navigating table, leaving Pennington on his own. He picked up a scroll and passed it to her. "They threw it in with the mail for my crew. Seems to have come from Canterlot."
"Oh! I was expecting a letter from my brother!" Twilight quickly broke the wax seal and opened the scroll.
"Captain Armor?" Pennington turned around for a moment, suddenly interested, but reverted to his fascination with the forest after a matter of seconds.
"Yes! I wrote to him to ask about- ... something." Twilight quickly cut herself off, considering the fact that her statement of "I wrote to ask him about you!" would have incited more than a tad of distrust in Pennington. In reality, she had written a letter to her brother after hearing about Pennington's application and acceptance to be a Royal Night Guard. She had mentioned that they were travelling together outside of Equestria, his fights with the gang, and even his abilities in magic to generate solid objects, including armor.
She had left out their final destination and feelings for one another, not wanting to worry her brother, whom she knew had a lot to deal with.
Dear Twily,
I'm so glad to hear that you're finally getting out of those books and that library! A little travelling is just as beneficial to the mind as any book. I've heard that the Plains of Lore are very dangerous, but I can rest assured knowing that you're in safe hooves!
I don't have to look up any records to remember Pennington Inkwell, I'll tell you that much. His application and test results are still unmatched in many categories! He's a powerful ally and a dangerous enemy. I was the supervisor the day that he was evaluated, and he made all of the other ponies look bad... He ran farther and moved faster in the physical evaluation, outlasting all but a few of the best runners, and pinned his instructor in under ten seconds in hoof-to-hoof combat. When magic was introduced to the fight to try and pin him without effort, he literally exploded out of their hold! I gave him his armed combat evaluation, and I'd never seen a pony materialize his own weapons out of sheer magic before. He was especially skilled with the short sword used by the elite guard, and almost bested me with my broadshield. He tried to use a low sweeping blow to knock out my legs from underneath me, and I dropped my shield to block it. It bounced off oddly and wound up hitting his horn, a distraction that gave me the opening that I had needed to win.
As for his actual results, he was our highest ranked in almost every category of physical fitness. His psychiatric report states that he is "reckless, determined, eager to make an impression, and dedicated." He suffers from a pathological fear of paralysis, "rooted in a hatred of helplessness," that allows him to often come back on the brink of defeat. The final statement claimed that he was "a potent mix of traits indicating an individuality complex, borderline loose cannon," but cleared for duty as a Elite Royal Night Guard, personally guarding Princess Luna and Princess Celestia. The last thing that it says in his file is that he turned down our request for enlistment with a letter claiming that "the situation has changed."
I hope that helps because there isn't much else I can find, he kind of dropped off of our radar after that.
Love, Your Brother,
-Shining Armor
P.S. It says that, whatever you do, you should not shorten his name to "Penny." He considers it a personal insult.
"Twilight, I think that the time has come for us to say 'goodbye.'" Pennington finally turned away from the window and took a deep breath. "Things are going to get difficult from here on..."
"Pennington, we can't come back for y'all, but you throw up your signal again, the Cliffjumper will come running to help." Sure Shot extended a hoof towards Pennington, who took it with a solid grip. "And may I just say that, for the record, this is a bad idea?"
"Duly noted, old friend." Pennington finally smiled for the first time since they had arrived in the cockpit as he took is friend in a firm hug. "And one more thing. If worst comes to worst..." Twilight didn't hear the rest of his sentence because he leaned in to whisper. Sure Shot acknowledged his request with a nod, then turned to Twilight.
"If you need help, there's something that you'll need to know: an identification code. You heard it when we came to rescue you and Pennington from the dune worm, do you remember?"
Twilight's mind flashed back to the first night that she had met Sure Shot and the other members of the New Lunar Republic. "Something about 'Where the moon rises in these parts?'"
"Yes. You'll have to know the entire thing,so repeat after me: From where does the moon rise in these parts?"
"From where does the moon rise in these parts?"
"Where the sun falls, the moon shall always rise." Pennington spoke the next words, drawing Twilight's attention.
"Where the sun falls, the moon shall always rise." Twilight repeated, doing her best to commit the words to memory.
"And they will always be..."
"And they will always be..."
"In eternal rounds of harmony." Twilight remembered the last line, saying it in sync with Sure Shot. "Why am I going to need to know this if I'm going to be with Pennington?"
"You may not always be with me, Twilight..." Pennington replied. "As you said yourself, you could lose me in there, whether one of us is taken prisoner or just plain lost in the catacombs. If that happens, I want you to be able to find help for yourself." He thought for a moment, then smiled again. "Luckily, I have a compass on my own flank, so I never get lost!"
"Yeah, right." Sure Shot rolled his eyes, but didn't mention whatever instance had sprung to mind. "It's not as if you've ever gotten lost before..."
"Hey, that was one time!" Pennington laughed as some kind of inside joke came back to memory. "In a blizzard, mind you!"
"I nearly wound up a pegasicle!" Sure Shot didn't seem angry, as if the entire incident were funny in hindsight. "All for some stupid crystal relic that you just wound up giving to the Princess!"
"It wasn't stupid!" Pennington was beginning to sound like a colt. "It was a record of an entire lost empire locked away into a single shard!"
As the two of them continued to argue, Close and Constant Care both came up to Twilight. Constant immediately gave Twilight a hug.
"Take good care of Pennington, okay? Everypony here at the NLR really looks up to him..." Constant gave her a big, forlorn smile. "It's not going to be easy, but boys never are. Take it from me, Sure Shot may seem like he's all business when we're out on the dunes, but he's still a foal at heart, and so is Pennington. You've been good for him, though. I can already tell."
"And remember the healing magic that we taught you. You might need it in there." Close Care seemed to hesitate for a moment, then gave Twilight a quick hug. "That pony's a reckless moron if I ever saw one."
"Thanks, girls..." Twilight smiled and almost laughed. "By the way, what did Pennington do to become so important in the New Lunar Republic?"
"You mean you don't know? Everypony knows!" Constant was clearly shocked by the question. She looked from side to side, then leaned in closely to whisper to Twilight. "Scorching Quill was the one who-"
"Ladies, thank you for patching me up!" Pennington smiled as he unwittingly interrupted the conversation. "Hopefully, I won't be needing your help when I come back! It will mean that I lost a bet..." He gave Close a firm hoofshake, then gave Constant a hug. "Take good care of my buddy, okay? He's not as good at staying out of trouble as I am..."
Constant laughed, her attention drawn away from what she was about to tell Twilight. "Inky, nopony stays out of trouble like you!"
"Because you actively search for it. Honestly, trouble couldn't keep away from you if it tried!" Close finished her sister's statement with her own sarcasm and an exaggerated rolling of her eyes.
"Alright, Twilight, well, it's time to go!" Pennington trotted to the door to the main deck. "Are you coming or not?"
"Just a minute!" Twilight called back, "I just need to say one more thing to Constant!"
"Okay, I'll be waiting outside." Pennington rolled his eyes and stepped out the door. "I hate drawing out goodbyes..."
"So, what was it? What did Pennington do?" She asked, eagerly waiting for Constant's answer.
"What are you talking about?" Sure Shot asked, stepping into the conversation.
"She doesn't know why he' so important here in the NLR."
"And Constant was just about to tell me!"
"Oh, that's not for us to tell, it's his story!" Sure Shot shook his head. "You know as much as I do, Constant, that he would want to tell it himself!"
"Oh, come on!" Twilight whined, "Just tell me what he did! He can tell me the 'story'!"
"Sorry, Twilight, but I'm not going to let them ruin it for you." Sure Shot placed a firm foreleg around her shoulders and guided her to the door. "Spoilers are not allowed on my ship!"
"Aw, come on, Penny! Just tell me!" Twilight whined as the two of them walked through the underbrush. The forest was humid and dense, making what Sure Shot had claimed to be a "quarter mile" feel like ten miles. She had tried to ask Pennington for the secret of his position in the Republic at least a dozen times, now, but he was taking some kind of immature glee in knowing something that she didn't.
"Nope!"
"Well, why not?"
"Because it's my little secret!" He seemed to have lost the solemnity that he had acquired on the ship now that he was down and in the thick of things. He had formed a machete with a huge blade to chop through the plants and form a path out of his magical energy, a talent Twilight was beginning to want to learn.
"A secret that you can't even tell me?"
"Well, actually, yes. I was told by Princess Luna not to relate what had happened to anypony. It was supposed to be a secret..."
"But everypony in the Republic knows!"
"Because it's their job to know what projects and work has been done to help Luna, not because I told them!" Pennington stopped hacking through the vines and turned around. "If you're so curious, why don't you just send a letter to Celestia and ask her yourself?"
"Because I don't have anything to send it with!" Twilight rolled her eyes. "Besides, you can just tell me!"
"No, I can't!" With a few more slashes, Pennington finally broke through the final wall of vines and branches, revealing the changeling hive in all of its foreboding glory.
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Another brilliant chapter! My guess at why he's so special is that he was the one to bring the prophecy of Nightmare Moon's return to Celestia.
1665066 That's a nice guess, Neon!
Makes me sad to tell you it's not right...
Honestly, don't worry yourself about it too much, I'm not giving it away for a while.
And, as Sure Shot said, I don't allow spoilers!
I'm really glad you liked it, I kinda felt as if I was just writing filler to move the story along...
1666770 I honestly thought this had quite alot! We learned that Pennington did something big which I think was the 'thing that changed' when he didn't take the night guard job, that Shining met him and that Twilight went behind his back to get information as well as the relationship between Twi and Pennington becoming more complex. Keep this up while I try to make my story and get rid of this head ache.
1666900 Keep this up? That, I can do!
As for your headache, try cuddling up with your Fluttershy figure and taking a nap. Most of my headaches are the result of not getting enough sleep.
Normally because I'm writing.
1670037 Yup. I don't get much sleep by my own choice! Meh, sleep is for the weak. Except when you start dreaming when you're awake...
1670152 Dreaming while awake?
Yeah, I've been there.... 
Meh, I can sleep when I'm dead!
1670732 They DO say don't fear the reaper now do they?
1670981 Whenever they say that, I always think that it needs a little more cowbell...
But, anyway, all our times have come! Speaking of time, I've finally made the decision that this predates the season 2 finale, so it also takes place before any of my other stories.
1671033 ... This> Is this
1671046
... ... ...
Oh my gosh.... I just laughed so hard...
It's been so long since I watched NC!!!
That is the best use of a Nostalgia Critic reference since Doug Walker brought up theBat Credit Card just to make him mad...
You, my fine sister, have earned an extreme brohoof.
1671142 That's funny cause that was in the related videos!
I just love watching the NC videos. Like the one he did for the Sonic cartoons and the live action Scooby Doo video!
1671338
And you live in Texas, too, right? We really share a lot in common!
It's almost creepy... almost!!
Okay, deal breaker: YGOTAS?
1671438 I don't know it!
But an episode is loading right now! 
And so is three let's play videos and two NC collection of random parts videos. I have no life.
EDIT: Not a minute in and it reminds me of Dragon Ball Z the abridged series. This is gonna be good.
1671456
I should be spending time with the girlfriend I don't have...
This is the internet. You forfeited your right to a "life" when you walked in.
BTW: it's okay about YGOTAS, just lets me know not to make any "screw the rules" jokes.
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1671456
and... there goes chapter 17. done. kaput. poof! Up in smoke.
"A problem with the webpage caused Internet Explorer to close and reopen the tab."
......................... ...................... ............. I really need to get on better terms with the "save" button. ............................. ........................... ..............................
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If anypony needs me, I'll be in the bathroom, crying alone and mourning a fantastic first part of a chapter that will never be born...
1671506 I have no life cause my first social interactions were on a Sonic X forum on, the now, dead 4kids site via role play. That's why I think Spheres had 6 likes and only 2 dislikes. And I like YOGOTAS, reminds of the DBZ Abridged. Poor Piccolo and his one Myspace friend. And on an unrelated note, I can do a pretty good impression of one of the characters from FiM! And might lend my voice work someday if A I didn't have the fear my laptop (my desktop doesn't have internet access) might explode if I tried recording and B since I know it would freeze half way through. This thing freezes on Youtube videos after an hour or two with a big fan sitting RIGHT next to it on the highest setting. ... I honestly think this thing is out to get me.
1671683 Ouch... I have no problem with that since I have a pretty good memory and that I hardly get to making alot of chapters, which I intend to revise! And here's some sad music for this sad day: www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNvFPKujc5w (darn link wouldn't work... music fits that too)
1704917 (Week old comment and I don't care) Congrats mate! That is great! Who knows? Maybe you'll become a great fanfic writer on this site one day! And I might be there too! If I got off my lazy bum, stopped playing addicting online games my laptop can barley run and worked on my fic. Eh, oh well. Too this fic, your others and most importantly, onward and upwards! And this because it's energetic and has nothing to do with this> BaBoom!