"My story's a lot like yours, only more interesting because it involves robots."

-Bender, Futurama

The Iron Horse (Everything's Better With Robots)

Part 1

Discovery

From the darkened forest, down deserted roads, gleaming under a bright sun, steadily it came. The metallic sound of its hooves hitting the stones in the dirt path was accompanied by the electric whirr of gears and a steady electric hum. It moved onward to its destination with precision, completely undistracted by sights or sounds. Birds and wild animals fled as soon as they saw this alien creature. It slowed only for a moment as it came to a bend in the road and saw a trail leading off the dirt road and through a gathering of trees. It was not a natural forest, however; these were all apple trees. An orchard.

"Recalculating," it uttered to itself in an electric voice. "Faster route determined. Proceeding to Ponyville."

The thing left the sunny road and entered the orchard, its gray metallic exterior almost blending in amid the thick shadows.

Soon it would arrive.

It wouldn't have been out of the ordinary for something strange to happen. Paradoxically, that was just how things were - or at least how they had become - in Ponyville. Rampaging dragons, parasprites, trickster spirits, etc., had left the small community with a growing resistance to surprise. Still, the new castle overlooking the area, not to mention their beloved princess and her friends, was something special indeed. Their own local monarch tasked with spreading friendship across the whole of Equestria. It was undeniably exciting, that was for certain. Welcome to Ponyville: the boring little hamlet where, on a regular basis, amazing things happen.

Still, some things never seemed to change…

"Today is the day, Cutie Mark Crusaders!" Apple Bloom declared. "We're gonna keep workin' until we get our cutie marks in…" she paused for dramatic effect "...sculpture!"

"I've got a good feeling about this one!" Sweetie Belle chirped enthusiastically. "And I brought all the stuff we need for it!"

Scootaloo inspected each stack of materials carefully. "Wood, clay… wait, what's with the rolled up wire stuff and the old copies of the Foal Free Press?"

"That's chicken wire!"

Scootaloo was silent, narrowing her eyes as if anticipating some unwelcome, overused joke.

"It's for paper mache!" Sweetie Belle explained.

"Oh! Oh, then yeah, great!"

Apple Bloom raised an eyebrow at that last bit. "Paper? We couldn't get one of those big ol' rocks you always see artistic types workin' with?"

Sweetie Belle sighed. "I asked the stallion at the quarry. He said a block of granite or marble was going to cost more than three fillies could afford on our allowances."

"Well, that's fine anyway," Scootaloo added. "I think some of these old papers still have our 'Gabby Gums' columns in it. Probably good to make good use of those even if we don't get a cutie mark."

The three young friends were in their clubhouse and they were actually further behind schedule than they'd expected. It was getting late in the afternoon to just begin their latest attempt at discovering their special talents and none of them glanced out the window to notice the storm clouds being placed overhead by the pegasus weather team. A thunderstorm had been scheduled for that day and the weather team had already issued a warning for everypony to stay indoors. Even with such control over weather, it was easy for wind and lightning to get a little out of hoof.

But the three were too engrossed in their little quest and their attempts to make some sort of statue or bust left them so busy that they didn't even notice as the rain began to fall and the sun began to set as the hours slipped by and the darkness set in.

"Hey! Help me out, my hoof is stuck in this here clay!"

"It ish?" Scootaloo turned as she held the hammer in her mouth, momentarily stopping her chiseling on the block of wood to turn to Apple Bloom. In doing so, she dropped the hammer on one hoof. Shouting in momentary surprise and pain, she fell backwards, knocking the unfinished sculpture over, chipping a chunk of the wood off entirely.

"Scootaloo, that's the first time I've ever seen a pony knock their own block off," Sweetie Belle said dryly.

"Oh ha ha," Scootaloo grumbled. Then she brightened, seeing her sculpture. "Hey, that's actually pretty good, Sweetie Belle!"

Sweetie Belle looked at her unfinished sculpture. "You think?" she asked hopefully. It was slowly taking on the shape of a unicorn's head, although the mane was only just being formed around the wire structure.

"Hey, yeah!" Apple Bloom agreed. "Is that supposed to be your sister?"

"Uh huh! I thought Rarity might like it! I mean, I need to finish and maybe paint it, but… wait, what's that sound?"

They froze and only now heard the hard rain splattering on the clubhouse window and loudly onto the rooftop. And then they looked up and saw a distinct drop of water forming in the roughly-constructed ceiling. And then that drop fell right onto Sweetie's paper mache sculpture.

"Oh no, I better move that before-"

The wooden ceiling suddenly gave and a large cascade of water came down, practically melting the sculpture before her eyes.

"It's melting, it's melting!" Sweetie cried. "Oh, what a world, what a world!"

"Ah dang it, I can't believe we forgot about the rainstorm today!" Apple Bloom shouted, stamping her hoof in frustration.

"It's not just a rainstorm," Scootaloo said. "Earlier, I heard Rainbow Dash saying it's gonna be-"

KABOOM

"-a th-thunderstorm," she finished. "And it looks like a bad one."

"We better get back to my house before it gets worse! Who knows if this old clubhouse can take any more punishment! Not to mention Applejack will be sore if we're out any later!"

The three of them abandoned their sculptures and ran out into the storm. The wind and rain were already strong and growing stronger and the sky began to flash and light up as lightning began to strike all across ponyville. The booming, rumbling thunder rolled over the orchard as they ran, but they counted themselves lucky that the lightning didn't seem close.

"Just a little more!" Apple Bloom called, grimacing as the rain pelted her face.

And then with a deafening, explosive bang, a bolt of lightning came down no more than a hundred meters away, turning the darkened land momentarily bright as midday. The sound may as well have been the sky itself shattering and they all screamed, clutching each other as their ears rang.

"That was too close!" Scootaloo yelled.

"Wait a minute, did it hit one of the trees?" Sweetie Belle asked. "I see smoke!"

"And I think I smell somethin' burnin' too," Apple Bloom said. They peered through the nearby trees but then they heard a strange sound as something came closer.

In a cloud of smoke, still searing hot from being struck by lightning, a strange thing emerged. It was the same size and shape as a pony, only…

"Is that thing made out of metal?" Scootaloo asked in disbelief.

"It can't be," Apple Bloom said, though the thing really was covered head to hoof with metal plates. In fact, even the hoofs seemed to be covered in metal.

"Maybe it's one of the Royal Guard? Is that why it's wearing all that armor?" Sweetie Belle's suggestion made sense, but it didn't look like any armor any of them had ever seen. And that's when they saw it staring at them and they got a good look at its eyes.

They were glowing. Well, actually, they were flickering erratically, but the point was their appearance: bright purple with no pupils. They resembled a pair of flashlights more than any normal pair of eyes. The girls recoiled with fear at the sight as the stranger approached them, but then Apple Bloom's sense of responsibility took over.

"Uh, excuse me, Miss or Mister," she said, coming closer. "Are you okay? Did you get struck by lightning? Do you need any help?"

The thing's walking was shakier now and they could all hear the loud clanking as it took each wobbly step. But it managed to keep walking as it made some kind of weird, jittering reply: "T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-"

"What's that? Can you speak up?" The pony or whatever it was in the armor had a strange, metallic voice (and it somehow didn't quite sound like somepony speaking inside a suit armor) and there was a bizarre distortion to it.

"T-T-T-T-TWI-TWI-TWI-LIIIIII," it stopped and then, its legs giving out as it took a few final steps, it made one more attempt at speech. "TWI-TWIIIIIIILIIIIIIIIIGHHHT S-S-SPAAARKLE-KLE-KLE-KKKKzzzt!"

The thing finally gave a distorted wheeze as it collapsed loudly in a smoldering heap, its purple eyes going totally dark.

"Oh my gosh!" Apple Bloom cried.

"W-w-what do you think it is?" Sweetie Belle asked fearfully.

"I don't know, but we can't worry about it now! We gotta get Applejack and get this pony to a hospital! I think it's hurt!"

Twilight moved briskly up the hallway in Ponyville General Hospital that night. She'd received a message sent over from Applejack via a nurse asking her to come as soon as possible. Luckily, Applejack had mentioned that neither she nor her family nor any of their friends were hurt, but she had still said there was something important she needed to see.

The rain outside had slowed to a light drizzle, so as she moved down the hallway, she shook the excess rainwater off her mane. She rounded a corner and at the end of the hallway, standing just before the doors of the operating room, she spotted Applejack and a doctor.

"Twilight!" Applejack called.

"Sh!" the doctor hissed. "Some of the patients in the nearby wings are probably sleeping."

"Ah, right, sorry," she apologized.

Twilight walked to them, offering a nervous smile.

"Um, good evening Applejack, doctor," she said. "Your note seemed urgent, so I came as quickly as I could. What happened, is everything all right?"

Applejack and the doctor exchanged glances.

"Well," the doctor began, "I can assure you that nopony is injured, but this is a special case. I have never seen anything like this."

Twilight relaxed. A late night emergency call to the hospital was never good news, as far as she knew, and though she couldn't imagine what might have happened to one of her friends, it now seemed that it was a false alarm. And yet…

"Wait, I remember you," she said to the doctor, smiling in recognition. "You treated my friend Rainbow Dash when she hurt her wing!"

"Yes, and then she broke into my hospital and tried to steal a book," he said, smirking slightly.

"Oh, heh heh, right."

"Water under the bridge, Miss Twilight. And by the way, it's Dr. Horse. Gregory Horse, MD."

Twilight actually loved that a lot of ponies in Ponyville continued to call her simply "Twilight" or "Miss Twilight" or at the most "Princess Twilight." The doctor was no exception.

"Uh, gettin' to the point..." Applejack hinted.

"Oh, yes, of course. What happened?" Twilight asked.

"Well," Applejack began, "it seems Apple Bloom and her Crusader friends were out a bit later than they expected. They got caught in the storm and made a run to get back to the house when they came across this pony dressed in armor."

"Armor?" Twilight echoed. "Like, maybe one of the Royal Guard?"

"That's what she figured. But she said it'd been struck by lightning!"

Twilight turned to the doctor in shock. "But you said nopony was in-"

"Just keep listening, you'll understand," the doctor said, cutting her off.

"Apple Bloom got Big Mac and me and we decided to haul it over to the hospital. And you wouldn't believe this, but… it took both of us to load it into the cart."

Now that really was something. Even with armor on, a single pony wouldn't have been too hard for a strong mare like Applejack to lift. And Big Macintosh was so strong that he could probably have lifted 10 ponies if he had to!

"We had no idea who was in that armor, Twi, so we just brought it on over to the hospital and then-"

"-And then my team took over," Dr. Horse finished. "And Miss Applejack wasn't lying. It took several team members to get it onto the operating table. We weren't able to tell if there was a pulse or if it was breathing or anything like that, so we tried to remove the armor. And it wasn't easy. It seemed to actually be bolted or even welded around the body. It seemed impossible to even pry off a single plate, but we finally got the side chestplate off after nearly half an hour of trying frantically. And then we found out something: it's not armor. There was no pony inside at all."

Twilight blinked and shook her head. "How can that be?" she asked. Then she started to try working it out, going into full-on "studious mode." "Unless the armor was enchanted, perhaps? But that shouldn't have affected the weight. Could it have had a gravitational distortion spell added, or perhaps an ethereal weight variance? Still, how could it have been empty, there should have been a concentrated magical field inside!"

"I didn't say it was empty," the doctor said, and with that, he beckoned them both to enter the operating room. "I just said there was no pony inside. But instead, we found all this."

Twilight's eyes went wide. "Wow," she breathed.

The thing on the operating table was covered in dull gray metal. Laying on its side, it did look just like a sleeping, unconscious pony, but only at first glance. The mane and tail were clearly artificial, each made of a series of conical, flexible white polymer tubes. The hooves weren't covered in brass - they were brass! Fine-toothed gears protruded from the back of each of the legs and the eyes appeared to be covered in glass, but were now darkened and unseeing. But most telling of all was that, with the chest plate removed, Twilight could now see the thing's mechanical innards.

"It's a machine!" she gasped.

"Indeed. I don't know how to explain it, but Miss Applejack's sister apparently encountered some sort of mechanical pony. This must be-"

"An automaton!" Twilight cried excitedly. "I've only ever seen one in a museum! And this one… wow! It's got, let's see, clockwork here," she said, peering inside the thing, "and vacuum tubes here, and… oh oh oh, is that a magical step-up transformer attached to a chemical battery? And there are other things I can't quite see. We'd have to remove more of the exterior. This is unbelievable! It's too bad it was damaged by the lightning; some of the parts look burnt. Maybe even irreparably."

Applejack stepped forward. "So, this contraption is just some kinda model or mannequin?"

"No, more than that! It can move and do simple tasks! Automatons, or 'Simulacra' as the pony-shaped versions are sometimes called, were all the rage about a hundred years ago! Of course they were expensive and couldn't do much. I totally see why Apple Bloom thought that it might have been a real pony. I wonder how it got in your orchard? Someone must have dumped it there."

Applejack shook her head. "No, Twilight, I saw the hoofprints it made myself and Apple Bloom swears she saw it move toward her. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle said the same thing. This here Otto-whatever got into my orchard by walkin' there."

Twilight froze. "No, no, that can't be right. They were built to move and sometimes dance and things like that, but they had preset motions. Without an operator nearby, it could never navigate through your apple orchard. Not independently."

"Well it can and it did!" Applejack insisted. "And there's one more thing you gotta know, Twi, and this is the reason I had 'em send for ya: Apple Bloom and the other girls swear this thing talked."

If Twilight had been merely impressed before, she was now completely astounded. She'd studied these machines before in her history and seen deactivated old models in museums. Admittedly, they had never looked as sophisticated or modern as this one, but in all her studies, she'd never read any account of an automaton that could speak. A walking, talking automaton? That wasn't normal, that was the kind of thing you read in fiction or saw in films.

"Wait," Twilight said, letting her train of thought catch up to the present. "What did it say?"

Applejack hesitated. "Your name, Twilight," she finally replied. "Apple Bloom swears the last thing it said before it keeled over was your name."

Twilight had a mixture of utter fascination and cold apprehension on her face. Fidgeting with her wings she trotted back and forth in the operating room, muttering to herself as she tried to work out what to do next. "An automaton… talking, talking like a normal pony… just moving independently… functional remote control… magical enchantment? No, no, too sophisticated… New technological advances? It can't be, but the evidence… this is… oh my gosh, this can't be… but it is! It is!... Oh gosh, what do I do now?..."

Dr. Horse leaned over to Applejack. "Is this, um… normal behavior?"

"For her it is," she replied with a smirk.

"I just mention it because we do have a very restful mental health wing filled with ponies who mutter to themsel-"

"I've got it!" Twilight exclaimed suddenly. "Doctor? Do you think you can get some volunteers to help Applejack and me bring this automaton back to my castle?"

"I suppose so. It doesn't seem we have any other injuries from the storm tonight. Guess some ponies decided to actually listen to the weather team for once," he grumbled. "It's a quiet night, so perhaps the orderlies could use a little exercise."

Applejack eyed Twilight carefully. "Uh, why exactly are we haulin' this thing back to the castle in the middle of the night, Sugarcube?"

Twilight now flashed a look of determination. "We just stumbled across one of the most amazing scientific discoveries in decades and it knows my name! It's broken, though, so if we want to find out why it was looking for me, there's only one thing to do: I'm going to FIX IT!"

She turned to run back down the hall, looking over her shoulder as she went. "I'll go get a room ready at the castle. I'll meet you back here in just a few minutes!"

"If you say so," Applejack said, watching her go. She turned to the doctor. "Uh, before we get this goin', um… about that problem I was talkin' to ya about?"

Doctor Horse nodded. "Yes, I'll set up an appointment for tomorrow, but I doubt it'll be any different from what I always say," he replied.

"Right, right," she said, looking disappointed. "Thanks, Doc."

The next day, Twilight had gathered her friends in a small room of the castle. The mechanical pony was laid on a table in much the same state it had been found earlier. Now, however, several more plates had been removed, revealing the bizarre metallic skeletal framework inside. The pistons in its legs and the tubing leading up through the neck were now visible, along with a host of other devices that filled the body, all connected with a twisting network of wires. A bright overhead light was being shined on it and stacks of books and other devices were scattered all around it.

"Well, everypony, here it is!" Twilight exclaimed. "This could be one of the most amazing advances in science since the invention of the train!"

They all looked to Twilight, then to the machine, and then back to her.

"Uh, no offense, Twilight," Rainbow Dash said, "but what exactly is so special about a pony made of metal?"

"I agree," Rarity said. "Looking at it, especially with its inner workings showing like that, it is rather, well, garish, don't you think?"

Twilight made a face. "I know it looks strange, but this could be something amazing! Think of what you could do with something like this!"

Pinkie Pie bounded over to Twilight excitedly. "Exactly!" she said. "I had a mechanical pony toy like this once! You wound it up with a key and it went all WHRRRRR and it moved around and spun on wheels and the horn lit up and everything! It was really cool until my dad sat on it and then it didn't work so well."

"Uh, Pinkie-"

"But a toy this big is way too big for anypony's dad to sit on it! I bet this thing could stand up to TEN dad butts!"

Twilight sighed, but smiled. "Well, it's not a toy, Pinkie, but you are right: this machine should be really sturdy. It could probably stand up to all sorts of punishment. Uh, dad butts included!"

"Woohoo!"

"Well, not for nothin', Twilight," Applejack said, "but why would you need it to take any punishment?"

"Think of it like this," Twilight began, trying to think of a good example. "Um… oh, I know! Fluttershy?"

"Hm? Sorry, what?" she asked. She had been staring at the automaton uneasily, not really following the conversation until Twilight got her attention.

"Imagine one of your animals got into a dangerous situation. Like, say, if Angel fell in a hole or there was an earthquake or storm and he got trapped inside a collapsing building."

"Oh my goodness!" she cried, practically tearing up at the thought. "That'd be awful!"

"Exactly. Now imagine-"

"He would be so scared! And maybe hurt! And hungry! And I would do my best to save him, but what if it was too dark in the hole? Or the building was on fire?!"

"Um, Fluttershy-"

"Or what if he broke his poor little bunny leg?! Oh no, no, no!" she shouted hysterically.

"FLUTTERSHY," Twilight said, holding her face in her hooves, making her face her. "Yes, that would be terrible, but you wouldn't have to worry. And do you know why?"

"Huh? Oh, uh, no. Why?"

"Because this could save him!" she said, gesturing toward the automaton. "A mechanical pony, an automaton as strong as a whole team of the toughest stallions, totally immune to pain and fear, has come to rescue Angel! Your pet will be safe and nopony has to go into a dangerous situation and get hurt in the process!"

"Wow! Amazing!" Fluttershy exclaimed in delight. "Oh, Twilight, that's such a great idea! Do you really think it could do something like that?"

"I do," Twilight said. She turned to look at all of her friends now. "I don't know who built this automaton, but if it can move independently like Applejack said it was doing, then we could be doing Equestria a huge favor by fixing it. Who knows, maybe the inventor of this machine is looking for it and will be grateful to us for fixing it!"

The others seemed to understand and one by one voiced their general agreement. Applejack broke through this optimism, however, by reminding them all of something.

"Now, this is all fine and good, Twi, but don't forget that this thing came around sayin' your name. It was lookin' for ya. Ya don't think that's even a little bit suspicious? Maybe… I don't know, maybe we shouldn't try fixin' it. What if some evil pony sent it after ya?"

Twilight smiled and put her hoof on Applejack's shoulder. "I have thought about that. And that's why I brought you all here. It isn't going to hurt anypony now, not when it's still broken. But if we fix it, maybe we can find out together what it wanted with me. It might be dangerous, but maybe somepony sent it to get my help. And if that's the case, then maybe they need all our help. We are a team after all, right?"

"Right!" they all shouted.

At that moment, the door opened and Spike entered, carrying another book and a blank scroll. "Here's that last book you asked for, Twilight. I got it from the public library. It's got some information on automatons from East Trottingham."

"Thanks, Spike! Okay, so on to business, everypony! I know this might take some time, but I need your help."

"I was starting to wonder," Rarity asked. "I must admit, though, I'm not very good with repair work."

"Yeah, if it's a barn or a busted fence, then I'm your pony," Applejack said, "but I don't know a thing about contraptions like this."

"Actually," Twilight said, blushing slightly, "I don't really know much about this type of machine either. I'm more familiar with potions and devices that work with magical energy. And this automaton works with a few devices like that, but the rest? I have no idea. Even if we don't know what these things are, however, all these books should help us figure out what the parts are. I've already had some pictures taken and I'm going to write to Princess Celestia asking if she can send an expert on technology to help us. But if we can identify the different parts first, that'll help whoever she sends!"

"Ugh," Rainbow Dash grumbled, "more studying?"

"Just enough to find pictures and stuff that matches," Twilight assured her. "You don't have to read the whole book. Just skim it."

"Eh, I guess I could do that. It would be pretty cool to try and get this bucket of bolts up and running."

Twilight levitated a book over to her. "This might be a good place to start, then. It's a book on antique automata that could fly."

"Whoa! They had those?!" Dash leaned forward excitedly.

"Yep. Not too far or fast, but they still had them! And I've got a few more. One on mechanical animals for Fluttershy, dancing clockwork displays for Rarity, musical ones for Pinkie, and even one on attempts to make automata that could do farm labor for Applejack!"

They all took their respective books eagerly, with the exception of Applejack, who took her book with a sarcastic "Yeah, swell," muttered under her breath.

While the others began their task of identifying the parts of the simulacrum, Twilight and Spike took to writing the letter.

"Ahem. 'Dear Princess Celestia,'" Twilight dictated as Spike wrote her words down. "'Something amazing has happened in Ponyville! My friends and I have discovered a broken automaton, just like the kind that were popular a hundred years ago. However, this one seems new, and supposedly it could move on its own. I'd like to fix it, but I need some expert help. Could you please send somepony who knows a lot about machines to help us? There must be somepony, perhaps in Canterlot, who knows something about this. I look forward to hearing back from you soon. Sincerely yours, Twilight Sparkle.'"

"Okay, got it," Spike said. "Anything else?"

"Make sure to enclose the photographs we took, okay?" she said.

"No problem," Spike said, folding them into the scroll. "Here goes!" Using his magical fire breath, he sent the letter, watching it disappear into the ether as always.

"I can't wait to see who she recommends!" Twilight said eagerly, clapping her hooves together.

A few moments later, she got her reply as Spike belched forth a scroll with the royal seal on it. "Wow, she sent a reply already!" he said.

The other ponies stopped their reading as Spike unfurled the letter. "Okay… 'Dear Princess Twilight,'" he began, reading the reply. "'Automata were only a novelty. Somepony else wasted their time making it, so they will surely come looking for it. I don't think it's necessary for a Princess of Equestria to...' uh, whoa," Spike said, pausing.

"What? What is it, Spike?" Twilight asked.

"Um, she says, 'I don't think it's necessary for a Princess of Equestria to waste her time on such things as well. I recommend you leave it as it is or else have it scrapped so you may focus on your role as Princess of Friendship. Kindest regards, Princess Celestia.'"

They were all silent.

"Wow," Rainbow Dash said, breaking the silence. "She, uh, doesn't seem that interested, Twilight."

"Maybe she's right," Applejack said. "I mean, really, what does this have to do with Friendship anyway?"

"Not everything I spend my time on has to be a royal duty," Twilight said, rolling her eyes. "But you're right, Rainbow Dash. Princess Celestia usually supports any research I do. I wonder why she seems so uninterested. It's not like her. Well, no matter. Let's try this again. Spike, can you take another letter?"

"Of course," he said, readying a second scroll.

"Then let's try this. 'Dear Princess Celestia. I know this isn't part of my royal duties, but this might actually be more important than I originally stated. The girls who found this mechanical pony all claim that it said my name before it broke down. I absolutely believe them when they say this. Whoever created this machine specifically sent it to find me. I don't want to leave this mystery unsolved. I would greatly appreciate your help in restoring it so we can get to the bottom of this. Your dear friend, Twilight Sparkle.'"

"Nice," Rainbow Dash said, nodding her head approvingly.

"That's sure to work!" Spike agreed, sending the letter.

A few minutes later, they got their reply. "'Dear Princess Twilight,'" Twilight said, reading this one aloud herself. "'I still have my doubts, as I personally lived through the heyday of automata and simulacra, and never once heard of such a thing as one that could talk or move on its own. Still, if that is true, then perhaps you are right. I believe I know of somebody who would be of great help. Allow me to contact him and I will let you know if I can arrange for him to assist you in Ponyville. Please be very careful, however. I fear that whoever sent this machine may seek to do you harm. I wish you and your friends the best of luck with your research and repairs. Sincerely, Princess Celestia.'"

"Oh my, that went much better!" Fluttershy exclaimed. "But, um, did anypony else catch that she said she knew of 'somebody,' and not 'somepony?'"

Twilight considered it. "Maybe it's a typo?"

The next day, she would learn that it was not a typo.

To be continued...